DDR elite
by aliasfan
Summary: [COMPLETE]Kaeli and Shawn are DDR players and best friends. When they enter a DDR tournament, Shawn meets Jake, another contestant, who likes Kaeli, too. Trouble brews! Who will win the contest and who will win Kaeli's heart?
1. Did You Get In?

**AN:** Hello! I've posted fics for Kingdom Hearts but this is my first for DDR! I know a lot of people don't go in this category, but hopefully I can get at least 3 reviewers! That would make me happy! :D I'm not the kind of person who doesn't update in months. I update about once a week (sometimes twice a week too). Well, I really like this fic. Enjoy!  
  
**Disclaimer:** Whoa, I'm so used to writing KH fics that I almost said that I didn't own Kingdom Hearts. Okay, I don't own DDR. It's such a cool game though! :P  
  
**Chapter One: Did You Get In?  
**  
The school year had been long and boring. Missing homework, absent students, and detentions were anything but rare. It seemed as though the days would never end, like when you'd look at the clock and it would say 2:31 PM, but then an hour later you look and it says 9:15 AM. School can be such a drag! But who knew that at school there could be miracles? Something to make you feel alive again, to raise up your spirits and give you something to think about. It can help you drone out your teacher's voice! Well, those things did happen, all because a student in the school posted a sign on the activities board. It read:  
  
Hey students! Don't miss out on a once in a lifetime chance! Do you  
play DDR? Do you constantly spend your money at the arcades playing  
it? Here's your chance to put your dancing to use, FOR FREE! Sign up  
in the main office if you want to be a part of a local DDR  
competition! That's right, you can play DDR for free, AND have a  
chance to win tons of cool prizes. If you win local, you can go on to  
state, national, and even worldwide! Winners of each competition will  
be named the DDR elite! Open to anyone ages 10-19. Sign up now! You  
will receive a date as to when you will dance to one DDR song (heavy).  
If the judges select you, you will receive info in the mail and be one  
of the 26 local contestants! That's right, only 26 people in this area  
will make it! No matter if you make it or not, you will receive  
something in the mail. So remember to practice, practice, practice! By  
the way, I'll see you there. -Bailey  
  
"Kaeli! Kaeli! It's here, it's finally here!" yelled Singa, Kaeli's 9-year- old little sister. She didn't even close the door as she gathered up the mail. As soon as Singa saw in the upper left-hand corner the words "DDR Konami Corporation", she knew this was the letter!  
  
Kaeli heard Singa yelling from downstairs, but she didn't know what would cause Singa such a fuss. But then she remembered. "The letter..." Kaeli trailed off. Immediately she sprang from her bed and ran through her obstacle course of a room. She had been waiting for a reply for a whole month. The last day of school was tomorrow, and in just one week, the contestants would be stripped away from home to stay at the Gilderton Hotel downtown to compete. She thought the letter would never come, assuming they made her wait for so long. The song Kaeli danced to for the judges was Afronova. She hoped she had made a good impression on them. Kaeli didn't want to be too cocky, for she had done fairly well for the song. She got an A, ranging 181 perfects, 21 greats and 23 goods. The bad part was, she'd feel horrible if she made it and her best friend didn't.  
  
Shawn was a great DDR player, and she didn't want to enter the competition without him. He had danced in front of the judges two days before Kaeli got too, so he was more nervous. But he also did well on his song. Tsugaru got him an A: 210 perfects, 32 greats, 16 goods, and 1 okay (when he got that okay he was thinking about Kaeli). So all in all the whole process was mind boggling. But soon Kaeli would find out if she had made it to locals.  
  
"Give me that letter!" Kaeli yelled as Singa danced around the room. Singa finally calmed down and handed the letter to Kaeli. She stood opening the letter, she was too excited to sit. She carefully lifted up the flap and pulled out the paper. She noticed that it was pretty thick. Good sign, she thought. They wouldn't send you a bunch of info if you lost. They'd just say "You didn't make it, better luck next time."  
  
"Read it already! You've waited a whole month for this! Why wait another second?!" Singa exclaimed.  
  
"You're right." Kaeli took a deep breath, and silently read the letter:  
  
Dear Kaeli Abson,  
  
As you know, being a part of DDR elite is a major privilege. Even  
competing for the title is an honor all in itself. We are sorry if it  
has taken us so long to write, but the response to this competition  
was bigger than we expected. There were many great dancers. We regret  
to inform you that some people were not good. However, you were good!  
We are happy to say that you have been selected for the local  
competition.  
  
Kaeli didn't need to read the rest of the information, about the contest, the hotel, etc. All that mattered was that she was in. She gave a little smile and looked up from the note.  
  
"So, are you in or out?" Singa said, annoyed by Kaeli's lack of haste.  
  
"I'm in!" she exclaimed. Now it was time to celebrate. When their mother came home 30 minutes later, she found them jumping on the couches. Of course, Kaeli's favorite snack-Kool-Aid and Doritos were strewn all around. Kaeli's mother knew that she had got accepted into the competition. That's all Kaeli would ever talk about, and she vowed not to drink Kool-Aid or eat Doritos until she found out. And of course, she wouldn't be jumping around the room if she hadn't made it.  
  
"Oh sweetie, congratulations!" her mother said, giving Kaeli a big hug.  
  
"Can we go out to eat to celebrate?" Singa asked.  
  
"Yah mom, can we? Oh, can it be to Rainforest Café? They have a DDR arcade there!" Kaeli begged.  
  
"I guess we can go. You can invite Shawn." her mother said, reaching for the phone to call her husband and tell him.  
  
"Shawn! Oh I completely forgot! If I got my letter maybe he got his too! I gotta tell him the good news, and hopefully he'll have good news for me! Before you call dad can I call Shawn?" the 16-year-old said excitedly.  
  
"Maybe you should go over to his house and tell him. That way, if he didn't make it, you can comfort him right there."  
  
"Let's just hope I don't have to comfort him." Kaeli said, grabbing her keys.  
  
"You're still gonna compete even if he doesn't make it, right?" Singa asked. "You'd be crazy if you didn't."  
  
"I probably would, but I'd feel bad for Shawn. Bye Singa, bye mom!"  
  
"Be home by 6:00 so we can eat out!" her mother reminded her.  
  
Kaeli stepped outside into the warm breeze and clipped her keychain to her belt. With summer here and school almost out, she could taste the victories of the competition already. Kaeli was also glad that she had heard the good news in her favorite outfit: a white skirt, red tank top, huge black studded belt, two black gauntlets, her white sash armband, star earrings, and tall, black leather boots. You could say that she was kind of a rocker.  
  
Even though Shawn was her best friend, he didn't listen to bands like Fountains of Wayne or Korn. He didn't dress anything like her. But their personalities were still able to click. She learned to deal with his Nsync and he learned to deal with her Blink 182. Kaeli finally arrived at Shawn's house. They only lived 2 blocks away. She had brought the letter to show Shawn. She brushed back her wind-strewn hair and rang the doorbell.  
  
"Oh Kaeli, so good to see you. Please come in!" greeted Shawn's mother. "Shawn is upstairs."  
  
"Thanks Mrs. Paltrow." Kaeli said. She went up the stairs and crossed the all-too-familiar path to Shawn's room. She knocked on the door that was closed. No response. She opened the door to find Shawn lying on his back on his bed, listening to his c.d. player. He didn't notice Kaeli as she stepped through the clear path to Shawn's bed. Unlike her room, his room was clean.  
  
"Um, hi Shawn." Kaeli said. The 16-year-old didn't open his eyes. "Hey Shawn!" she yelled louder. Shawn opened his eyes and jumped from his bed.  
  
"Whoa! Kaeli, you startled me!" he said, taking off his headphones.  
  
"Sorry about that." Kaeli laughed. "What were you listening to?"  
  
"Uh, Christina Aguilera." Shawn said. "Not something you'd like."  
  
"You never know. It could turn into a DDR song." Kaeli said, getting on the subject of DDR. Kaeli sat on his bed and took out the letter. "Speaking of DDR..." she trailed off.  
  
"You got your letter too?!" Shawn exclaimed.  
  
"What do you mean "too"? You got yours? Why didn't you tell me?" Kaeli said.  
  
"I was going to tell you tomorrow since it was the last school day to kind of finalize stuff." Shawn said. He was trying to look at Kaeli's facial expression, to see if she did make it or not. He hoped that she had made it, because she was a great dancer, plus he didn't mind watching her dance. "So, did you make it?"  
  
"I did! I can't believe it." Kaeli said, trying not to be too excited and hurt Shawn's feelings if he didn't make it. "Well, stop putting me on hold! Are you in?"  
  
Shawn got up and took a letter off of his desk. "Why don't you read it yourself?" he handed it to Kaeli, and she read the letter.  
  
Kaeli looked up from the paper. "We did it!" she screamed. "I knew we could make it!" Kaeli said, flushing out the doubts she had had.  
  
"I'm so excited Kaeli!" Shawn exclaimed.  
  
Kaeli jumped off his bed and hugged Shawn. "Congratulations!" Of course, Shawn hugged back. He could never resist a hug from her. "Oh, I almost forgot, my parents are taking me out to Rainforest Café tonight. We're inviting you, so please accept!"  
  
"Of course I'll accept Kaeli! They're got the best food in town and DDR!" Shawn said. They went downstairs to tell Shawn's mom.  
  
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Since you took all that time to read this, why not review! And wasn't that such a nice, long chappie?! My other fic's chappies tend to be short, so be grateful that this one's long! 


	2. The Witch Doctor

**AN:** Hey guys! Oh my goodness! I am SOOOO happy! I never thought I'd get 5 reviewers! Thank you all so much for reading this fic! I seriously thought that I was gonna have to take it down because no one would read it. Wow! This totally made my day! Well, enjoy!  
  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own DDR. I do own my DDRMax 1 and 2. Which I haven't played in a while. I really need to play it more often to get in shape. Though I did play DDR yesterday but it was at the arcades. Man was I tired!  
  
**Chapter Two: Ribs and the Witch Doctor**  
  
"It's 5:30, so I gotta get home to get ready. We're leaving at 6." Kaeli explained.  
  
"I'll come too then. I'm already ready. Thanks again mom." Shawn said.  
  
"Congratulations again you two!" his mom said as they left the house.  
  
The air was a bit cooler than before, but Kaeli still managed. "Do you know anyone else from our school who made it?" she said as they walked back to her house.  
  
"Nope." Shawn grinned. "But I can tell you who didn't."  
  
Kaeli gasped. "Who, who?!"  
  
"Bailey Johnson." Shawn said. One of the most popular girls in school had been ousted by two ordinary joes.  
  
"Are you serious? I can't believe it! She was the one who told everybody about the competition! I heard she practiced her song everyday! She was even slacking off in her classes for it!" Kaeli said, thinking her ears had deceived her.  
  
"I know, I was shocked too. I heard from one of Bailey's friends that she danced to Abyss and missed a lot of steps and got a C. She just told everyone she got an A."  
  
"Wow." Kaeli said, walking up her steps and turning her keys in the door. "But I can see why she wasn't taken. The judges were very clear on saying that anything lower than a B was not that good! Plus, Abyss is a baby heavy!"  
  
"Shawn!!!!!" Singa exclaimed as they walked through the door. "Did you make it?"  
  
"Yep. Your sister and I are going to the locals! We're this much closer to being named DDR elite!" Shawn said, slapping hands with Kaeli.  
  
"Kaeli? Is that you? Your father should be home in 10 minutes so be ready to leave at 6!" her mom yelled from the kitchen.  
  
"'K! By the way, Shawn's here. He made it in too!"  
  
"That's great! Congrats!" her mother said.  
  
"Let me show you the picture I drew!" Singa said. She led them upstairs to Kaeli's room where Singa had put up the picture. "See, it's of you two playing DDR! Next year when I'm ten, I'm going to join in the competition just like you guys!"  
  
"We'll be tough competition, Singa, but you can try!' Shawn joked.  
  
"I don't have much time to get ready and I need to change." Kaeli said, starting to pull some clothes out of her drawers.  
  
"Okay." Singa said, skipping out of the room. Shawn was still standing there.  
  
"Uh, Shawn, I need to change into different clothes. Can you leave for a sec?" Kaeli said, kind of freaked out.  
  
Shawn snapped back into focus. "Change? Uh, right. Okay." he said. He backed out of the room, still staring at the black bra that Kaeli had pulled out. Shawn stood on the steps, waiting for Kaeli to emerge, looking stunning as she always does. Even when she wears baggy clothes she still looks amazing, he thought to himself. So imagine what he was thinking of when he backed out of the room. Shawn pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and read its contents in his mind. Kaeli, when can I tell you how I feel? My love for you is truly real. Next week will give me a chance to say, what I've wanted to tell you everyday. How I love your smile, your charm, your wit. This thought in my mind, I can't get rid of it. I long to be able to call you mine. Girl, do you know you're so darn fine? The things that we like may not be the same. But I couldn't hold back my attraction since the day you came. So please, dear Kaeli, I'll tell you what to do: make me complete and love me too. Shawn stared at the paper with anguish. He wanted to read her the note, or tell her how he felt, but he was so afraid. "I'm going to tell you sometime during the competition, Kaeli. When we can be away from home, from everybody. I'm going to tell you that I love you." he whispered.  
  
Kaeli opened her door, which startled Shawn. He quickly folded up the paper and put it back in his pocket. He looked at Kaeli. Again, she looked stunning. She was wearing attire perfect for both a nice evening dinner and a game of DDR. She had on a black top and khaki pants. "I heard your dad come in a little while ago, so we should be leaving soon." Shawn said.  
  
"Alright! I'm so excited! This'll be tons of fun!" Kaeli said. They headed down the stairs and met up with the rest of the Absons. All five of them packed into the car and drove downtown to the Rainforest Café. Of course, they stopped to look at the great Gilderton Hotel first.  
  
"Can you believe it? We're gonna be staying here!" Shawn said, admiring the bright lights and bustling bellhops. He felt like jumping out of the car and going up to his room right then and there. "I hope the week goes by fast!"  
  
"Me too. But at least if the days drag, they won't drag in school. And we'll play DDR everyday. I saved up a ton of quarters." Kaeli said excitedly.  
  
"I did too. We're gonna win this thing, Kaeli." Shawn said seriously.  
  
"You mean, we'll make it to state?"  
  
"No. We're gonna make it to worldwide. I can see it now. It'll be just you and me, vying for the championship as the master of DDR elite. Then you will kick my butt and win! I'll be the second place nobody and you'll be the star of the school, no, of the whole world!" Shawn said, not being sarcastic at all.  
  
"I don't think I'll be that big. And I don't want to get too cocky with this whole thing. I really hope I make it to worldwide. But I don't think I could even get into nationals, or even state! You never know, I could be the first one out and not win the locals." Kaeli said modestly.  
  
"Don't say that! You're a great dancer. You have nothing to worry about." Shawn said. They finally arrived at Rainforest Café, and everyone was ready to go.  
  
Kaeli hopped out of the car. "But aren't you scared? Won't you be nervous?"  
  
"Me? Nervous? Never!" Shawn said, trying to be big. "Well, actually I'm scared of one thing."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Being beaten by one of those 10 year olds! That would be so embarrassing!" Shawn said. Everyone burst out laughing.  
  
"See?" Singa said. "You should fear us little kids!"  
  
Kaeli chuckled. "Maybe we should!" They walked into the fake but beautiful rainforest. They were seated at the best place possible, right next to the fish tank. The colorful array was a sight to see! They were also in the room with the starlit sky ceiling.  
  
As they waited for the food to arrive, they made a toast to Kaeli and Shawn. Their meal consisted of ribs. They make the best in the town! Even though Shawn and Kaeli loved the food, they hurried as fast as they could because they couldn't get their mind off DDR. In fact, Shawn nearly choked on a bone because he just ripped off a piece of ribs and didn't bother to see if it was bone.  
  
"Can we play DDR now?! Please, please, please!" Kaeli whined like a little girl-correction-just like Singa.  
  
"Alright you can go. Just don't spend all your money!" Mr. Abson said, but Kaeli and Shawn didn't hear him. They left as soon as the heard "Alri-"  
  
The arcade place was packed. There were tons of teens there, trading their quarters in for tokens, trying to cast their anxieties aside for a game of DDR, Police Trainer, or Mortal Kombat.  
  
"I hope all these people aren't here to play DDR!" Kaeli said. They managed to push past the crowd and get to the DDR arcade. Everyone circled around the game was cheering and moving to the beat.  
  
"The person playing must be pretty famous, and they must be really good!" Shawn said. They were able to pass the last line of people and go see who was bringing all the commotion. There they saw a guy there, around 18 years old. He was playing Witch Doctor in Heavy Mode.  
  
"Man, he is good!" Kaeli said to Shawn. They noticed that no one had put tokens in the machine so they put theirs in.  
  
"At least he brought us a crowd." Shawn yelled above the racket. The guy finished Witch Doctor (his 4th and final song) with a AA. Everyone was impressed. Shawn and Kaeli watched the guy add his name to the highscore list, then they stepped onto the pads. While Shawn was picking a song, Kaeli managed to talk to the guy who just danced.  
  
"Hey, you're really good. I'm Kaeli, what's your name?" she asked.  
  
"The name's Matt, but everybody calls me the Witch Doctor." he said.  
  
"That is so cool!" Then a thought popped in Kaeli's head. "Did you try out for the local DDR competition?"  
  
"I made it in, but I didn't exactly try out. You see, the Konami Corporation was doing a tour and they came by here when I was playing DDR. They told me they were thinking of having a contest, and if I could be one of the contestants. Of course I didn't refuse." The Witch Doctor looked around. Other people were bombarding him. "Look, I gotta go."  
  
"I'll see you there." she trailed off. "Shawn, we might have to go up against the Witch Doctor! He didn't even really have to try out!"  
  
"Let's hope he makes a mistake." Shawn said. There was a still a pretty good crowd when they danced. Plus if they were contestants, they'd have to good enough to watch. Kaeli and Shawn always take turns picking the songs. Shawn picked the first one, and they both danced to Love at First Sight in Heavy. Next Kaeli picked Afronova, her baby that got her in the contest. No doubt it was easy for her. Shawn decided to do Tsugaru since Kaeli had honored her song. All these songs they danced to were a breeze. People around them still cheered, but not as loud as it was for the Witch Doctor.  
  
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Okay, I never did this before, but I love it when other people do it so I'm gonna too. I'll respond to each person's review. I like it because then I feel more attached to the reader (or writer). Yah. And these chappies are so much longer than my other ones so I'm proud!  
  
**Zanisha:** Glad you're reading this fic, even if you don't play the game (which you should)! It's so much fun! I lost about 10 pounds one time playing DDR everyday after school for two weeks. (Then I think I gained 5 pounds by not playing for a week). Anyways, thanks! And...peace out! lol  
  
**Saesowanoguchi:** I hope I spelled that right! Anyways, thanks for reviewing. I absolutely love your DDR fic! Update soon! I think you were the one that emailed me, right? Well, you're right, it's sad that people don't go on the DDR category so god stories get tossed down the drain. But thankfully I have 5 reviewers! Yay! Reached my goal!  
  
**HisLight:** Of course, you know what happens in the story a long time from now. Heh heh. What more can I say?  
  
**c0wgurl32:** Actually, the Rainforest Café by my house doesn't have DDR either. I just made that part up. But they should! I know they'd get a lot more customers! Well, no one knows who'll get Kaeli ('cept me)! You'll just have to wait and see! Muahahahaha!  
  
**desertwind:** Hey, thanks for reviewing! And here's the chappie you wanted!  
  
Well, you read, so I know you'll review! :D 


	3. Last Day of School

**AN:** Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews! Just a heads up, I'm gonna be gone from July 6-15, so I won't be able to update or review for a while. I'll post a chappie right before I leave, 'kay?  
  
**Disclaimer:** DDR is owned by the Konami Corporation, not me.  
  
**Chapter 3: Last Day of School**  
  
"Let's try something new. Even if we fail, we could at least try a different song." Kaeli suggested.  
  
"Well, it's your call. I've never done Witch Doctor in Heavy. If we were up against the one and only with that song, we'd get pulverized. How about we try that song?" Shawn said.  
  
Kaeli looked around at all the people staring at them. She didn't want to be embarrassed and fail in front of the people, especially since they just saw someone do it perfectly. "I don't know. Well, I guess so." Kaeli didn't let the crowd get to her. If they weren't there she would try it out, plus she'd like to see them go up there and do it. "I better make it "times 2" to make it easier. They pressed okay and prepared for the worst. There were tons of steps that would have looked really confusing in "times 1" but it was a little easier with "times 2".  
  
Kaeli was doing okay. Her meter bar was at halfway. But Shawn was having a hard time concentrating and matching up the steps with the beat. He was failing and his side said danger. He finally stopped because his steps were off beat and were distracting Kaeli. Kaeli did pretty well for her first time. She ended with a D, and Shawn had an E. The crowd gave them a small applause for trying. When they emerged from the crowd they saw the Absons.  
  
"I saw you trying out Witch Doctor in Heavy." Singa said. "At least you didn't fail!" she said.  
  
"Well I would have if it wasn't for Kaeli." Shawn said smiling.  
  
Kaeli's mom gave them a mysterious look. "Well you'll just have to practice it and get better."  
  
"I don't want to waste all my quarters on just one song! I mean, I want to get better, but you never know, I could fail and lose the other stages!" Kaeli exclaimed.  
  
"That's why we got you this!" Mr. Abson spun around and handed Kaeli a Playstation 2 game system with DDR Max 1 and 2. They also had two dance pads.  
  
"Oh my goodness! Thank you mom and dad!" Kaeli screamed. Now she didn't have to use her quarters. She had the game for home! "You guys are the best!"  
  
"You'll be coming over to our house a lot more often now!" Singa said to Shawn.  
  
"Oh, I won't have a problem with that." he said to the side.  
  
All of the excitement of the day was so much. Kaeli was a contestant and she got a new game console with two games! Kaeli wanted to stay up all night and play DDR, but she still had school tomorrow, even if it was the last day of school, the biggest blow off day of the year. They drove back home the way they came, so they could again see the Gilderton Hotel. There were still a lot of people out front, ready for their night on the town. They arrived at the Paltrow's house, but like Kaeli, he wanted to play DDR.  
  
"You're so lucky Kaeli!" Shawn said, happy for his friend and not at all jealous.  
  
"Well, why don't you come over after school and we can play DDR! And we can have an afternoon snack: Kool-Aid and Doritos!" Kaeli cheered.  
  
"It's a date!" Shawn blurted out. "I mean, it's set!" he blushed. "I'll see you 2nd period. It'll be fun to tell Bailey we're in and ask her if she is. She'll have to say she didn't make it!"  
  
"Alright then!" she waved goodbye as he ran up to his house. The Absons got home and were ready to go to bed. It was already 10:00!  
  
Kaeli was getting ready for bed when her sister came in her room. "Kaeli, I think Shawn likes you."  
  
Kaeli whipped around quickly. "Shawn? No, I don't think so. We're just friends. What makes you say that? What're you talking about? There's nothing going on. Who told you that?" she said in one huge breath.  
  
"Well for one, the fact that you talked so quickly and nervously." Singa remarked.  
  
"Noooo. I just don't think it's true so I don't know why you said that."  
  
"I was just saying what I thought! Plus I overheard mom and dad talking. They made it seem like you two were gonna go out or something. I think they want you guys to go out."  
  
"What? No, that can't be. We're just friends, end of story. If they want me to have a boyfriend, I'll find one, but just not now." Kaeli said.  
  
"Just look for clues tomorrow." Singa said.  
  
"Get out."  
  
"Make jokes about you two going out. I'll bet he'll blush."  
  
"Get out!!" Kaeli exclaimed. She didn't need a badgering little sister making up stuff and bothering her. She quickly washed her face and changed and got into bed. I can't believe I can play DDR at home now, she thought. But what if Shawn does like me. Do I feel the same way? Kaeli still pondered that question as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
The morning came with warm air, chirping birds, and a bright sun. Everything was perfect for the last day of torture. The buzzer went off at 6:15. "Ugh..." Kaeli groaned as she reached for the clock to turn off the ugly sound. It's the last time I have to do that until I'm a junior, she thought. Kaeli got up and noticed her dirty room-the clothes she wore yesterday, tons of junk food consisting of Doritos and Kool-Aid, and of course the rat family that had moved in there a month ago. As she looked for her purse, she pushed her bookbag under her bed. "No need for you!" she exclaimed. If she had looked through her bookbag, she would have found papers in there from the beginning of her sophomore year!  
  
Kaeli slapped on some clothes and eventually found her purse. She looked for her keys, which of course wasn't in her purse. As she rummaged through her belongings she stumbled upon an old note that was written to her by Shawn. Upon reading the note she remembered the day he had given it to her freshman year.  
  
Hey Kaeli!  
  
Just another boring day in bio. Mr. Malone won't stop yapping away  
about chromosomes and Mendel and his peas! Anyway, yesterday I played  
a really cool game at the video arcade. It's new. It's called DDR,  
which stands for Dance Dance Revolution. I was really bad at it, but  
some people who played it were really good. It's some dance game where  
you try to step when arrows match up. It's kind of hard to explain, so  
I'll show you today. Meet me by my locker after school and we can go  
together.  
Sincerely,  
Shawn  
  
"Man, I can't believe I still have this!" Kaeli shouted. "I have got to show Shawn! This note is where it all began!" Kaeli quickly found her keys and ran down the stairs. "Singa, read this note!"  
  
Singa took the note and carefully read its contents. She gasped. "Oh my goodness! I can't believe it! Looks like your messiness came in handy!"  
  
"I know! I almost forgot that Shawn introduced DDR to me!" she said. Kaeli was so excited, that she didn't want to wait to get to school. She grabbed some toast and headed out the door in a flash. Kaeli ran all the way to school, which wasn't too far, but it was still a great workout.  
  
She entered the school a bit earlier than usual. The halls were practically empty, except for the few students and teachers, all of whom were anxious for the day to end. Kaeli stopped by her now old locker. She opened it up, finding it completely spotless. "Oh look what they made me do to you! Why do you have to be clean? Where's the mess that I worked so hard to make?" Okay, you're talking to a locker here, Kaeli thought to herself.  
  
She heard some talking across the hallway so she was really happy when she turned to see Bailey and her other friends. Kaeli reached into her purse and pulled out her acceptance letter. She didn't want to be mean and brag, but it would be a very satisfying situation. She wasn't really friends with Bailey, but they were friends enough to get along if they had a project together.  
  
"Hey Bailey!" Kaeli said, walking up to the group. "I heard you got your letter yesterday! I'm so glad you made it in! Shawn and I got our acceptance letter yesterday too. It's gonna be so much fun! Can you believe it? Next week we can be named DDR elite!"  
  
Bailey looked up at Kaeli with distant eyes. "I-I didn't make it in." she said softly.  
  
"Oh!" Kaeli said, acting surprised. "Oh I'm so sorry. I just figured you made it in since you said you got an A. I thought anyone who got an A got in."  
  
"Well, uh, I guess too many people got A's so they had to, um, cut people even if they did good." Bailey choked out.  
  
"Hmmm. Too bad." Kaeli said. The 5-minute bell rang, and 1st period was about to start. "Well, I gotta go. Don't take it personally. Remember, there's always next year." Kaeli walked off to her geometry class smiling. Maybe I was too hard on her, she thought. Naaa. She entered the room and sat down in her assigned seat. By the time the bell rang for class to start, there were 4 other people in the class, counting the teacher!  
  
"I guess no one wants to go to school to do nothing. They'd rather come here to work." The teacher, Mr. Swaum joked.  
  
Kaeli was prepared for situations like these: boring classes with nothing to do for 45 minutes. She pulled out her c.d. player from her purse. "Ah, much better!" she said, slipping on the neckphones. The music didn't help take her mind off wanting to ditch the last day of school to play DDR. Every song she listened to she came up with DDR moves. Kaeli was relieved when the bell finally rang. "Okay, I only have to do this 7 more times. And at least I can talk to Shawn now." She walked up to the 3rd floor and entered her art room, where her teacher was Ms. Valesk.  
  
"Good morning, Kaeli! So good to see you. Hopefully your other classmates will come. I told them that they could only get their artwork back today." she said.  
  
==================================================  
  
I know that ending was kinda awkward, but I had to leave it off somewhere! Anyways, hope you're enjoying it!  
  
**Zanisha:** Yah, I haven't been to the R café in a while. But I remember one of the times that I did go I made a huge fuss 'cause we were celebrating my birthday (Heather's too since she's my twin) and I wanted this big TY gorilla stuffed toy. But my parents wouldn't let me get it. Anyways, I need to play DDR more, like, everyday!  
  
**SaeSawanoguchi:** Alright, I think I spelled it right this time! Sorry, I still need to R&R your 5th chappie! I've just been so busy. I have majorettes practice 3 times a week from 12-3, and singing lessons (but that's only once a week for 30 minutes). I can't really sing that good, but I try! lol I'm glad you like my writing techniques. Yah, once I get to the competition, it'll be really cool. I hope I don't make it boring!  
  
Where are my other peoples that were supposed to review? –looks under couch- Not there! Oh well! 


	4. School Ends But Tests Don't

**AN:** Man, I'm gonna be gone for 10 days! I can't take the pain! :( Well, don't miss me too much! lol Anyways, hope this is good enough for you for now cause you won't be hearing from me in a while!  
  
**Disclaimer:** The only DDR I own is the game that I BOUGHT! MUAHAHAHAHA! –cough- yah, so, whatever.  
  
**Chapter Four: School Ends But Tests Don't  
**  
"Good morning, Kaeli! So good to see you. Hopefully your other classmates will come. I told them that they could only get their artwork back today." she said.  
  
Along with being a great DDR player, Kaeli was also a good artist. "That's your trick, Ms. V. They have to come if they want to keep all their hard work over the year." Actually, everyone did come to art class. They may just leave when 2nd period ends, but at least they came. It must have been the biggest attendance ever.  
  
"Hey Kaeli! So good to see you!" Shawn said, hugging Kaeli. "I can't wait to see all my artwork. Yours too."  
  
"Well, I really can't wait until we can play at my house." Kaeli said.  
  
Play at your house? How I wish you were thinking about it the way I am, Shawn thought. I gotta stop torturing myself! You're telling her at the competition. Everything's gonna be okay, he thought.  
  
"Alright students, well, not students anymore. I will be handing back your portfolios. I'm extremely proud of all of you and I wish you luck in art next year with Mr. Finski." Ms. Valesk said.  
  
Shawn and Kaeli got back their portfolios and looked back on the year with it. "Remember this project?" Kaeli asked Shawn. She lifted up a picture painted with black, blue, and red. "Ms. V. told us to paint down our feelings. I had just had a huge fight with Singa that morning, so I was really angry. What was yours?"  
  
"Oh yah! Shawn fiddled through his portfolio and found that particular project. He glanced at it before pulling it out. He had painted a heart and a sunset of warm colors. Guess who he was thinking about then? "Uh, I don't have it in here." he said, wedging it between two other projects. Guess I was gone when you did that." Shawn said, thinking quickly. He didn't want Kaeli to see the painting, at least not until they were going out.  
  
"Hmm. Too bad." Kaeli said, oblivious to the fact that Shawn did have the painting and he had lied to her. Shawn and Kaeli talked the rest of the time and the period soon ended. They were about to split in the hallway to go to 3rd period when Kaeli pulled Shawn aside. "Let's leave now!"  
  
"What?" Shawn said, surprised.  
  
"Let's ditch the rest of the school day. Nobody would care!" Kaeli said. It was the last day of school, but it was so boring just doing nothing, and she could only listen to one c.d. for so long.  
  
"Uh, I don't know.." Shawn said, unsure.  
  
"Come on! We can play DDR at my house! Plus we'll be all by ourselves. Bratty Singa wouldn't be home yet!"  
  
Alone together? Now Shawn had a reason to leave. "Alright, let's do it!" They quickly scrambled out of the school and ran until they were out of sight. As they walked, Kaeli thought about what Singa had said about testing Shawn.  
  
"This is so cool!" Kaeli said, jumping up and down. "Now we can have fun the rest of the day!"  
  
"We only have a week until the competition! That's only a week to practice."  
  
"Yah! But we'll practice together everyday. We should really work on Witch Doctor Heavy, but you need the bar so we can't do it at my house."  
  
Do it at your house? Man, Shawn, pull yourself together! Stop making everything perverted, he said to himself. Just try to relax. In a little more than a week you'll be telling her. It's not that long because sleeping takes up half the day, plus we'll be playing DDR a lot. It's really only a day really, he thought. It'll go by like that! As Shawn was still collecting his thoughts, they entered the Abson home.  
  
"Let me fix us up a snack!" Kaeli said, excited.  
  
"Lemme guess: Doritos and Kool-Aid." Shawn laughed. "Let's eat afterwards so we won't upset our stomachs playing DDR."  
  
"Good idea." Kaeli set up the DDR mats for the first time. Remember what Singa said, she thought. I'm gonna hate doing this! "Uh, it's so cool that we have the whole house to ourselves huh?"  
  
"What? Oh yah." Shawn said as the game loaded.  
  
"We could do anything we wanted and no one would know." Oh I really hate doing this. And what if he doesn't like me? "Know what I'm talking about?" she faked a smile.  
  
"W-what?!" Shawn stammered. He was starting to sweat even though he wasn't playing DDR yet. "What do you mean?" Is she coming on to me, he thought, half excited, half scared.  
  
Kaeli turned her attention to upstairs. "You know..."  
  
"I, uh, don't know if we should...I mean, at least not so soon but..." Shawn said, now more scared than excited.  
  
Oh tell him now so you'll put him out of his misery. "It's okay! My parents aren't home. We could turn my radio up really loud! Well maybe not, 'cause the neighbors might complain and then my parents would find out anyway. Come on, let's play DDR now." Okay, Kaeli thought. Test #1-Fail. He was nervous out of his mind. Other guys would just play along as a joke but he took it seriously. Bad sign. Or is it?  
  
"Oh yah." Shawn said, acting as if he knew what she was talking about the whole time. "Loud music is definitely bad." Kaeli quickly picked a song, she didn't even know which one. It turned out to be Summer Love in Standard mode. It was easy, but both their minds were elsewhere, and they missed a lot of steps due to their lack of concentration.  
  
After playing Shawn said, "We must have done bad because we're used to playing it at the arcades." That was his excuse.  
  
"Yah, you're right. It takes some getting used to." That was her excuse too. Okay Kaeli, you're gonna hate to do this, but soon he has to take his second test. No! You cannot do this to Shawn, Kaeli thought, whether he likes you or not! Singa is a 9-year-old who's never had a boyfriend. What does she know?! Kaeli suddenly felt really guilty for what she did.  
  
"Hey, Shawn, I'm really glad you're here. We have to learn some new songs for the competition. Since we're not doing so well on these mats, let's go to the arcade. We can practice Witch Doctor!" Kaeli said, trying to be nice and hoping it made up for being so mean to him. "And I'll pay!"  
  
Shawn was surprised by this sudden change of events. "Okay!" he was feeling a little better, but he still was mad at himself for looking like a fool. "And no one will be there to see me get another E!" They left the house and walked to the video arcade a couple blocks from the school. Only a few people were out when they left: people who didn't have school or work, and of course the people like Kaeli and Shawn, who ditched the last day of school (or at least most of it). There actually was some people playing at the arcades but none that were playing DDR. Kaeli and Shawn did a little better, getting the feel of the beat in Witch Doctor. Shawn got a D along with Kaeli.  
  
"If I have to dance to Witch Doctor Heavy I'll get slaughtered!" Kaeli exclaimed.  
  
"Well at least we can pass it!" Shawn cheered. After playing a couple games of DDR, school was almost out for the summer. Shawn and Kaeli walked by the school as the last bell rang. Kids came running out, jumping and shouting. They returned home and cleaned up the mess that they had made. Kaeli, tired from DDR at the arcades, still wanted to play DDR at home. Shawn agreed that they needed to practice.  
  
"You never know what to expect at the competition!" Kaeli said. They were still dancing when Mrs. Abson and Singa came home at 4:30.  
  
"Sweetie, you look beat!" Kaeli's mom said.  
  
"Yah, it looks like you guys have been playing since you came home!" Singa said.  
  
Kaeli and Shawn both looked at each other and smiled. "Well, sort of." Kaeli grinned. When they finished playing DDR at the arcade they got home at the same time they would when school was out. But technically they didn't because they came home earlier and didn't play the entire time.  
  
After they finished dancing, Kaeli and Shawn let Singa play. They would have played with her but they were both tired. Shawn stayed until 5:30 then left for home.  
  
"I'll swing by tomorrow so we can play more DDR!" Shawn said as he stepped out the door.  
  
Kaeli then remembered some things she had totally forgot to tell him. "Wait Shawn! I almost forgot!" she pulled out the folded paper from her back pocket. "Read it." Shawn read the letter that he had written to her freshman year.  
  
"Oh my goodness! I can't believe you still have this!" Shawn exclaimed.  
  
"I know! I've gotta frame it. It'll be worth a lot of money once you and I become famous DDR elite!" Kaeli smiled. "Oh yah, and I got to talk to ole Bailey."  
  
Shawn gasped. "You did?! What'd you say?!"  
  
"Oh nothing much. Basically the same old taunting and bragging. But it was sweet, I wish you had been there!"  
  
"As long as someone rubbed it in her face it doesn't matter if I didn't!" Shawn left the house still laughing all the way home.  
  
"Ugh, I'm exhausted from DDR!" Kaeli said. She trudged up to her room and plopped lazily on her bed. "Mmmm...nap time..." she mumbled, dozing off. She was almost off to dreamland when a familiar voice awakened her.  
  
"Kaeli, tell me everything that happened! Kaeli?"  
  
Kaeli looked up from her pillow to see Singa. "Argh! Why did you wake me up! I was so close to sleeping. Can't you see how tired I am?"  
  
"Yah I know." Singa smirked. "But I wanted to know if you and Shawn are going out now."  
  
"What?! No! And by the way, thanks for the lousy advice!" Kaeli sat up in bed and threw her pillow at Singa.  
  
"What, it didn't work? Did you at least say something to him?"  
  
"Yes...and that's how I know you gave me bad advice, now please get out. I need to sleep!" Kaeli said, lazily reaching for the pillow she threw that she knew she couldn't reach.  
  
"No, I want to stay. Talk more about what happened. Let me guess, you ditched, right?"  
  
This girl never listens, does she, Kaeli thought. "Okay, you wanna play the hard way? If you don't get out of my bedroom in 5 seconds, you will never again set your feet upon those DDR mats again!" Singa was out of the room when the countdown was 4.999 seconds. Too lazy to get up and pick up her pillow, Kaeli just bunched up her sheets to comfort her head. By the time she woke up, it was the next morning. Hungry from no dinner, Kaeli slumped downstairs and ate a huge breakfast of pancakes and omelets that her mother had made. After stuffing her face, Kaeli watched Arthur on t.v. then played some DDR. Of course, Shawn came over and she played DDR again. 


	5. The First Day With A Twist

**AN:** Hey guys! I'm back! Man, now I have so many stories to read because they all updated! Yah, so if I'm not R&Ring yours right now, that means that I'm still reading other fics and haven't gotten to yours yet. But, I plan to be all back to normal by Monday (hopefully). Well, today's a busy day (I have so much laundry to do! Well, I was gone for 10 days ya know!). Anyways, enjoy this chappie (sorry I left it at a cliffie!)  
  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own DDR but it owns me....lol  
  
**Chapter Five: The First Day With A Twist**  
  
The week seemed to go by really slow, but playing DDR with Shawn helped Kaeli get through it easier. And although at any competition there is nervousness, Kaeli and probably all of the contestants were filled more so with excitement. The day finally came when they would be staying at the Gilderton Hotel. All of the contestants' practice would be put to the test. The Paltrows drove Kaeli and Shawn downtown. They had packed many belongings, hoping that they would be staying away from home for a very long time.  
  
"Thanks again for driving me to the competition Mrs. Paltrow." Kaeli said on the ride there.  
  
"Oh, it's the least I can do since your family took Shawn out to eat last week." she said.  
  
Kaeli had on her favorite outfit that she wore when she found out that she had made it into the competition, so she was pumped and ready for anything that was in store for her. Boy was she wrong. As soon as all 26 contestants arrived in the lobby, they were hit with some very surprising news. There among the beautiful lights and paintings of the huge hotel was something covered with a sheet. Everyone wanted to know what was under it, but the host had to explain a few things first.  
  
The host, Mr. Bradley Rogin, took his microphone. "Welcome, DDR players, to the first ever DDR worldwide competition! Out of you 26 contestants, there could be the DDR elite master!"  
  
As the host was talking, Kaeli looked around the room for any familiar faces. None, except for Shawn and the Witch Doctor. He sat in one of the couches with a huge smile on his face. "Look at him!" Kaeli whispered to Shawn. "He makes it seem like he's already won the title!"  
  
"Each room will have 5 contestants each, except for one room which will have one extra person." the host continued. "We will be randomly choosing who stays with whom. Who knows, you may end up being the only guy in a room with 4 other girls." Immediately after Mr. Rogin said that many guys whistled and cheered. That got them awake. But the next thing that the host said got their attention even more. "Alright, enough explaining. Before we choose roommates there's a couple things that need to be done. I'm sure everyone is wondering what is under that sheet. I think it's time you found out." Kaeli and Shawn both gave each other a quick look, then turned to see the sheet drop and reveal a DDR machine! Many people cheered, but others began mumbling.  
  
"Duh, this is a DDR competition! Why is that such a surprise?" Shawn said to Kaeli, who shrugged her shoulders in response.  
  
"Of course, this is the DDR machine that each one of you will be competing on. During elimination rounds, two people will go at a time. It would be too confusing having 10 dances at once, right? Okay, let me cut to the chase. In your letter, it was mentioned that today you will get settled in and tomorrow would be our first set of competitions. Well, that's not entirely true. You will be playing DDR today...and it will be an elimination round." Everyone began to start talking and making a huge fuss.  
  
"What?!" Kaeli exclaimed in panic. "Shawn, we could be going home today!"  
  
"This is not good." Shawn said. "I think everyone realizes that!"  
  
The host did look a bit sympathetic to the contestants, but I think what he said next was really hard to say. "One more thing, kids. You must compete right now...in what you are wearing!" This really brought up the heat!  
  
Kaeli turned to Shawn and gave him a look of anguish. She stared down at her favorite outfit that she wished was not her choice of wear anymore: a mini skirt and long black boots. "What am I going to do?!" she cried. She looked around the room, hoping that other girls had made her mistake too. Some girls were wearing high heels, sandals, dresses, skirts, etc. The guys had it easy. Basically anything they wore was suitable for DDR.  
  
"Man, and all of us signed those release forms!" Kaeli said. "If we slip and fall and hurt ourselves while playing DDR in these clothes Konami Corporation won't get in trouble!'  
  
"Don't worry Kaeli. You'll stay in, don't worry."  
  
The host had a list of names that he was drawing from a basket. He wasn't picking the roommates, he was picking the competitors. Everyone was nervous. No one wanted to go first. "We will only make people dance in Standard mode. We're not total jerks! Basically, the rules are, you must not fail. You never know, we could have our five local DDR elite named today! One person could be eliminated today, or 10 people can!" Mr. Rogin pulled out 2 slips of paper and carefully read the names. "Our first competitors are...Vivica..."  
  
As the name was called there was a groan in the group. A very preppy girl stepped out wearing suitable DDR wear all except for her sandals. Footwear is the biggest factor in DDR.  
  
"...And...Kaeli." the host finished.  
  
"Nooo!" Kaeli exclaimed. "I don't want to go first! I don't want to fail!"  
  
Shawn took Kaeli's hand. "It's alright. I know you won't fail. I believe in you."  
  
Kaeli took comfort in his words, and slowly walked up to the front. "Looks like we're both gonna have to work a bit on the song." she said to the girl next to her.  
  
"Yah. But whatever it is, let's hope it's an easy song." Vivica said.  
  
"Alright girls, step onto the platforms." the host said. He started up the machine, and hit random. "All songs will be randomly picked for fair gaming." All of the contestants were now crowded around the machine. It reminded Shawn of the crowd made for the Witch Doctor. He prayed to never have to go against him. Today would be okay though, since he wouldn't be really competing against him. Nope, this competition today was against yourself.  
  
"And the song is...Drop the Bomb!" Everything was set. The lights were flashing and the music turned on.  
  
Kaeli was in the zone, focused on the game. But before it started she heard someone behind her say, "I'm gonna enjoy watching this. A girl in a mini skirt and leather knee high boots. Oh yah!" Kaeli did not want to lose her focus to see who it was, and the song was starting. She wouldn't have known who said that but someone had said his name.  
  
"You're so right, Jake!" someone laughed.  
  
As the song started it wasn't that hard. But when it got to the chorus, both girls were having some trouble. Vivica was trying to keep her sandals from flying off, and Kaeli was trying not to trip at the jump combos. She was also trying to keep her skirt from riding up. Luckily, the song wasn't too hard, and they both ended with a C.  
  
"Nice job, ladies!" Mr. Rogin said. "You're both still in the contest!" Kaeli and Vivica both slowly trudged off the stage. They were tired. Normally they wouldn't be, but in their circumstances, there was an exception.  
  
Shawn pushed through the few people in his way to Kaeli. "See, Kaeli! I told you that you could make it!" He hugged her. "Now, if you can dance in those clothes and not fail, I think I'll be alright!"  
  
"I'm sure you will be!" Kaeli listened for the next contestants.  
  
"Brian.... and....Quiko!" Everyone watched as a small boy and an older girl step up. Brian turned out to be 10 years old. Quiko was 19 years old.  
  
"Let's see what this small fry is made of!" someone in the crowd yelled. Kaeli looked around and noticed that many of the contestants were high school students. She could only see about 4 including Brian that looked 14 and under. The lights turned on and the music began to play as the next round went up. Kaeli's legs were tired from playing so she sat down at a nearby couch. She was even too tired to watch Quiko scramble on the DDR pad in her dress and high heels. That was a sight she wanted to see! Kaeli closed her eyes. I've made it past day one, she thought. Well, supposing they have no more tricks up their sleeves.  
  
"Mind if I sit down?" Kaeli heard a voice tell her. Kaeli opened her eyes to see a teenage boy. He was wearing big black, baggy pants, a wife beater with the word sko on it, and a spike choker. He had spiky hair and an earring in his ear.  
  
After looking him over, she finally said, "Not at all."  
  
"Trying to get away from all the noise, huh? Well, I'm sure I'd be tired too if I tried to play DDR in those clothes!" he laughed.  
  
"Yah, it's hard. Nice tattoo." she also noticed he had his tongue pierced. "What did your mom think of that and your tongue piercing?" Kaeli could hear the crowd cheer. Guess those two made it. She heard the host call two more contestants, but she was still tired and wanted to talk to the kid more.  
  
"Actually, my mom was okay with it. I wanted to get it pierced so bad so she let me. Tongue studs are the coolest if you know what I mean." the kid said, grinning.  
  
Kaeli didn't get it. "So, tell me about yourself. I'm 16 years old and my name's Kaeli Abson."  
  
"Yah, I know your name from when Rogin called it. Well, I'm 17 years old. The name's –"  
  
"Kaeli!" Shawn interrupted. "I was looking all over for you!" Shawn turned his attention to the guy sitting next to Kaeli. "What were you doing?"  
  
"Just talking. I needed to sit down before my knees collapsed." she looked at Shawn. "Man, you worked up quite a sweat." Then she put two and two together. Kaeli gasped. "Oh Shawn! You danced just now didn't you?!"  
  
"Yes, I did. I was looking for you so you could watch me. But I couldn't find you in time." Shawn looked upset. Kaeli jumped off the couch and hugged him.  
  
"I'm sorry! Don't worry, I promise that I'll be there to all of your dance competitions!" she cried. "Well, by the looks of it, you passed right?"  
  
"Of course I did! I got a B. I got stuck dancing to Chang Ma! Do you remember what we practiced Kaeli?" she nodded. "One, two, three." They both shuddered at the same time. Chang Ma was a hard song for both of them to pass. They eventually mastered it over Christmas break.  
  
Kaeli turned her attention back to the guy on the couch, but he was gone. "I didn't catch his name." she grumbled.  
  
"What did you say?" Shawn said, even though he heard her. He tried to hide his small pint of jealousy. Of course he was a little upset, she was talking to another guy when she should have been watching him.  
  
"Oh, I wanted to know the name of the guy I was talking to. He seemed really cool. All I know about him is that he's 17 years old and he's got a tattoo and has his tongue pierced. Well, I'm gonna go watch the rest of the contestants." Kaeli said.  
  
Shawn silently followed her. Why does she have to think those guys are cool, he thought. I hope I get some decent people as my roommates. If Kaeli was with me...he trailed off. He was thinking about more opportunities to tell her how he feels about her. Shawn snapped back into focus and watched the rest of the contestants. Afterwards, everyone found out that only 2 people failed. One was a girl wearing a skirt and flip-flops, and the other person was an 11-year-old boy. He was good, but the song he danced to was a song that he had been having trouble with in the spring and tried to master in time but didn't.  
  
"Alright now DDR players! There are still 24 of you! You have all made it past day one! And since today was an elimination day, tomorrow will be the fun day. You will all spend your day going to the beach and afterwards a carnival!" Everyone cheered. The contestants didn't just compete. They had fun outings too. "Quiet down, now, it's time to choose your roommates!" Everyone did shut up, because they wanted to know who they were with. After naming 3 rooms, the host finally mentioned Kaeli's name. "Room 4 is Kaeli, Rinoa..."  
  
"Let's hope you're with me, Shawn!" Kaeli said as she walked up to the front. There she saw Rinoa, who looked like a nice girl.  
  
"Oh, I hope I can be in a room with you!" Shawn said, though Kaeli couldn't hear.  
  
Mr. Rogin continued. "Vivica..." Vivica stepped out and joined the group. Kaeli was glad she was in the room, at least they had known each other a little bit when they played DDR. "Jake..." Kaeli looked up to see the "sko" guy walk up to the group.  
  
Jake, she thought. That name sounds familiar...but I thought he didn't tell me his name. Then she remembered what she heard before she was going to dance. "It's him!" she murmured. Part of her didn't like him because he seemed like a guy who only looked at a girl's looks, but part of her liked him because he seemed so nice when they talked.  
  
"Hey Kaeli. Guess you know my name now, huh?" Jake said smiling.  
  
"Whoa, this guy is gonna be so lucky if the next name we pick is a girl!" the host exclaimed. Many guys in the crowd whistled and cheered. Jake let out a big "Yah!!"  
  
Shawn was really upset now. He hoped that Kaeli had feelings for him, because if she didn't, he might not get his chance to tell her if she starts to like a certain someone else. Shawn held in his breath as Mr. Rogin called the last name.  
  
"Alright, the final person in Room 4 is..."  
  
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Yah, sorry 'bout the cliffie! -evilness- MUAHAHAHA! -cough- um, yah. Anyways, I only have 3 or 4 chappies left that I typed out for this story so far, so I really need to get off my butt and keep writing it. But, I also have End This Requiem to write too. Man, it seems like I have more stuff to do than I did during the school year (that can't be possible!)  
  
**Reviews:**  
  
**ZimXGir:** Thanks for reading my fic! Yay, I have more reviewers than I thought I would! This so cool! gleams Anyways, yah, Kaeli was pretty sneaky there. Hope you enjoyed this chappie!  
  
Lyphe: Yah, 10 days being gone is long...but I'm back now! Well, DDR takes a lot of practice, especially in Heavy mode. If you have the game at home, it helps a lot. I've been playing for a little over a year now. I'm in Heavy mode, but I still can't do a lot of Heavy songs (some are just so darn hard- like Max 300 or something).  
  
**Zanisha:** Did you update in your stories? I'll have to check! Oh yah, and I need to remember to put everyone on my author's alert list. We're getting a new computer on Monday, so guess what? I won't have to keep going to the library to review, and it won't freeze every ten seconds! Yay!  
  
**HisLight:** Ugh...now we gotta fix those combos that we were doing wrong! Oh well. I know, you're gonna be gone for 10 days! So, we've been apart practically 18 days if it wasn't for me coming home at 10. Aeh!  
  
**SaeSawanoguchi:** Yah, if I had the arcade form of DDR, that would be the best! I know they're expensive, but do you know exactly how much there are? That would be so cool to have an actual DDR machine in your house! Yes, I'm finally getting to the competition stuff, but I like to set everything up. You need to get attached to the characters.   
  
Well, everyone, thanks for reading! Now review! 


	6. Getting Started

**AN:** Yah, sorry to leave you at that cliffie! And it took me long to update 'cause the new computer had to be set up. Anyways, it'll be a little while before the competition heats up. I need to put in this stuff and I think it's better than just jumping into the story. Anyways, enjoy!  
  
**Disclaimer:** (in Al Bhed) E tuh'd ufh TTN. (I don't own DDR). Oh yah, and I know in real life a competition would never in their right mind put guys and girls in the same room to stay in but this is my story so I'm doing it my way!  
  
**Chapter Six: Getting Started  
**  
"Alright, the final person in Room 4 is..." This is it, Shawn thought. Say Shawn! Say Shawn! "Sssssshawn!" Shawn just stood there. "I said Shawn. Shawn Paltrow!" Shawn came back into focus as he heard Kaeli exclaiming loudly.  
  
"R-right here!" He said, running to the front. He gave Kaeli a big hug and Jake a big smile. She's my girl now, he thought.  
  
"We're roommates! Yay!" Kaeli yelled. The host called off the rest of the names, then showed everyone where to go and the schedule for the week. The hotel was big and beautiful and it really lived up to its name. Gilderton Hotels were nothing but the finest. Before everyone got settled in, the five teens sat down to talk and get to know each other better.  
  
"I just have one thing to say first." Vivica began. "I'm glad that we're amid teens. I definitely don't want to be around a bunch of little kids. It would be like babysitting!"  
  
"You're right. So everyone tell us your name and age." Kaeli began. She found out that Jake was 17, Vivica was 17, and Rinoa was 15. Of course Kaeli and Shawn were both 16. After finding out some things about each other, they put their things away. The rooms were pretty big. It was sweet.  
  
"Shawn, I'm so excited! She said. The five contestants noticed that there were 2 bedrooms. In one of them there was a double bed. In the other bedroom there were 3 single beds.  
  
"I call a double bed!" Jake called out. "Ooh, can we pick sleeping buddies?" he asked, turning his attention to Kaeli.  
  
Shawn saw the look and stepped in. "Uh, no." he said quickly.  
  
"Well I want a double bed." Kaeli said, not realizing that it sounded like she wanted to sleep with Jake.  
  
"I want it too." Rinoa said. Vivica didn't mind sleeping on a single bed.  
  
"Well, I think that the two girls should take the double bed. A guy and a girl would be, uh, inappropriate." Shawn muttered.  
  
Jake looked at Shawn, then back at Rinoa and Kaeli. "Fine. I'm cool with that. Sko!" he said, taking his stuff into the other bedroom.  
  
Shawn took in a deep breath and went into the room with Jake. He put away his clothes in the dresser next to the bed. If it was me I wouldn't have deemed it inappropriate, he thought. Great, now I'm in a room with mister thinks-he's-so-cool. Oh well, just learn to deal with it, Shawn thought.  
  
"What time do we have to wake up tomorrow?" Vivica asked. She was still unpacking as she talked.  
  
"At 9 Viv. 'Member what Joe said? First the beach then the carnival! It's gonna be sweet. Tell you what, I'll even win you a prize at the carnival." Jake smooth-talked.  
  
"Yah, cool!" Vivica said excitedly, now renamed "Viv".  
  
Even though Shawn wasn't done unpacking, he went to Kaeli to talk to her. She was already done. Same with Rinoa, and they were both talking on the bed. Kaeli looked up as Shawn walked in.  
  
"Hey Shawn! Guess what? For the audition, Rinoa danced to Tsugaru just like you! Cool, huh?!"  
  
"Yah! Hey, um, Kaeli, if you're not too busy, I was wondering if you wanted to go take a walk around the hotel. It's 9:00, and the curfew is 10:00. What do you say?" Shawn asked. He tried to hide his nervousness. He had a million thoughts going around in his head. Should I tell her now? Maybe later? Is it too soon? Will it be too late? By the time he pushed those questions aside he found himself walking out the door with Kaeli. Score!!! he thought.  
  
"Man, I am SO excited!! This is it! And we're roommates! How cool is that?!" Kaeli exclaimed.  
  
"Very!" They walked down into the lobby where there was a water fountain and plants. "The best part is that I can share this whole experience with my favorite person in the whole world!" Shawn said.  
  
"Aw, that is so sweet! Well, I think my favorite person is me too!" Shawn gave her a confused look. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! But seriously, you're my best friend. Who wouldn't want to be here without you?"  
  
Shawn chuckled and even blushed a bit. "Thanks, Kaeli." It's not time yet, he thought. Just wait a while, maybe a couple days. NO, one of us could lose the competition, so I have to do it soon. Shawn thought hard. Tomorrow at the carnival. Yes, on the Ferris wheel. That would be perfect! Don't most kisses in movies happen there? I sure hope it does in real life, he said to himself.  
  
"What're you thinking?" Kaeli asked as she saw Shawn so deep in thought.  
  
"Oh, just about tomorrow." he said, not particularly lying. "It's gonna be a lot of fun. We're gonna hang out together right?"  
  
"Of course! But I do want to hang out with our other roommates, ya know, get to know them better. I've already talked to everyone a little bit, but since you and I are gonna get far in this competition, they might too, so I want to make some friends." Kaeli looked at her watch and yawned.  
  
"Getting tired?" Shawn asked.  
  
"Yah. Even though I usually go to bed later, I'm unusually tired today. I guess all the excitement has worn me out. Mind if we call it quits?"  
  
"No prob! We need our beauty sleep. Oh, but one more thing before we leave." Shawn reached into his pocket and pulled out two pennies. He handed one to Kaeli.  
  
Kaeli looked strangely at Shawn. "Uh...right. I will, um, treasure this penny, uh, forever."  
  
"No, silly! It's for the fountain! Don't you want to make a wish?!" Shawn laughed.  
  
"Oh yah! See? I'm tired, I can't think straight! I was all like "okay...thanks." I would love to make a wish!" Kaeli said.  
  
They both walked up to the fountain. Shawn threw in his penny first, which fell among the other coins on the fountain floor. I wish that I will leave no words unsaid to Kaeli. I wish for Kaeli to be my girlfriend by the end of the competition. And hopefully to be my true love.  
  
"My turn!" Kaeli chimed. She threw the penny into the air, aiming for one of the statues that spouted water. It landed on one of them. "Alright! Now I have to think of a good wish. I can't waste it. You only get one wish per fountain, and this is the only fountain I know of." Kaeli closed her eyes and thought hard. Okay, wish time, she thought. I wish...I wish for my future to be filled with happiness, preferably with the one I love, and that my life is filled with no regrets. Kaeli opened her eyes. Her thoughts rang still and true.  
  
"Done? So, what'd you wish for?" Shawn asked intently, wanting to know if her wish had anything to do with him.  
  
"You know I can't tell you!" she said, pushing him over. "Then it wouldn't come true! You wouldn't want to tell me your wish would you?"  
  
Shawn thought a moment. "Not until after it comes true."  
  
==============================================  
  
"Wake up sleepy heads!" Viv exclaimed. "It's 9:00 and we have to get up!" As one couldn't tell, Viv wasn't a morning person, but she was so excited that she hid it.  
  
Jake rolled over in his bed. "Ughh...why do they make us wake up so early?"  
  
"Early?" Shawn said, getting up. "This is actually pretty late for some people. And aren't you glad we don't have to wake up at 8 every morning?"  
  
"Yah, yah, yah..." Jake mumbled as he slowly slunk out of bed. He slipped down to the floor and started sleeping there.  
  
"Everyone up in here?" Rinoa asked, the youngest of the bunch. She looked down at Jake. "Yep, two out of the three people are awake. No one's asleep here 'cause Jake's dead!" Everyone laughed.  
  
Must, see, Kaeli, Shawn thought. Shawn looked around to see Viv and Rinoa in their sleeping clothes. Ooh, still hope Kaeli's got her nightgown on. No, better yet, sexy lingerie sleepwear! Shawn entered Kaeli's room to find she wasn't there. He walked back into the next room. "Where's Kaeli?" he asked Rinoa.  
  
"She's getting ready in the bathroom. By the way, there's two, so if no one's gonna go in yours, I'd like to go 'cause we're leaving at 10:30 and I need to get ready."  
  
"Go ahead Rin. It's all yours." said Jake. Like most guys, he didn't need to get in the bathroom because technically being ready was just getting up and reading the sports section of the newspaper.  
  
"Oh, now I got a nickname?" she laughed. "What about Kaeli and Shawn?"  
  
"Hmmm." Jake thought. "Kaeli will be Kae, and Shawn can be....well, he just won't have a nickname, will ya bud?" He wrapped his arm around Shawn.  
  
"Uh, sure, whatever." Shawn said strangely. The phone rang which made everybody jump. "I got it!" Shawn picked up the phone.  
  
"Who was that?" Viv asked after Shawn was done talking.  
  
"It was Joe. Breakfast is at ten. First we're going to the beach. Then at 4:30 we head to the carnival." Shawn explained.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Kaeli said, walking into the room. "I figured it'd be the beach first, so I'm already prepared.  
  
"I better get ready too then." Shawn said. After everyone gathered their things for the beach, they headed downstairs to the room where breakfast was (it would seem like brunch or even lunch for the usual early risers). All of the contestants were there minus the two booted from yesterday, which left 24 starving teens. There was tons of food to eat, and it seemed like everyone's heads would fall off from talking and eating so much.  
  
"Now remember," Rogin warned. "We're going to the beach. If you plan on going swimming, I'm sure you wouldn't want to with a full stomach!"  
  
"Aww, c'mon!" someone in the group joked. "We're in this competition to get away from our parents!" It was a great atmosphere, fun and exciting, but soon everyone had to leave to go to the beach. Of course, the bus ride there was even better. The songs that the whole crew would sing ceased to decease since 1st grade.  
  
"This is gonna be a blast!" Kaeli said over the loud singers. She was talking to Shawn, who quickly chose his seat next to hers.  
  
"We should have a sandcastle contest or something." Shawn said.  
  
"Lame idea!" Kaeli and Shawn looked up to see Jake turned around in his seat, sitting in front of them. "C'mon, we already gotta listen to "the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round", and now we're gonna have to play in the sand? Psshh."  
  
Shawn looked away embarrassed as Jake talked to Kaeli the rest of the way there. When they arrived, many people were anxious to run into the water. But they had to wait as Rogin explained the rules.  
  
"Now, I think everyone basically know the rules: you can go away from the beach perimeter, you can swim out past the lifeguard boat, and you can play rough in the water and drown people." Joe Rogin explained. Everyone had a confused look on their faces. "Hey, someone said I was acting like their parents, so if I am, then no matter what I say you do the opposite!"  
  
"Ohhhhh! I get it!" cried the familiar voice they had heard earlier that day.  
  
"I have a suggestion!" someone yelled. It was Jake. "How about we all have a sandcastle contest!"  
  
"Excellent idea, Jake!" Rogin said. "The contest will be held at 1:00. It'll be fun!"  
  
"Hey!" Shawn exclaimed. "He stole my idea! He said it was stupid too!"  
  
"Okay...." Kaeli said. "Oh well. I know that it was your idea."  
  
Yah, but I wanted to say it, Shawn thought. He looked over at Jake and gave him a bad glare.  
  
"Just be back at the bus right here at 1:30. Now go have some fun!" At Rogin's call everyone ran past him to the beach. They looked like a stampede! The morning was beautiful. The sun was out, and it wasn't too hot outside, but warm enough for you to be cooled off in the water. Many girls decided to get a tan by lying out in the sun. Many guys decided to watch the girls getting a tan that were lying out in the sun. The rest played in the water.  
  
==============================================  
  
Yay, the beach! I wanna go to the beach!  
  
I'm kinda tired, so sorry, no review responding today (don't kill me!) 


	7. Play Time!

**AN:** Hey guys! Man, I seriously need to be working on this fic. I think I only have one more chappie already typed out, so I need to start working. Yah, I know I said all this before, but I'm so lazy! It's weird too, because I haven't beaten FFX-2 yet, but 2 or 3 days ago I started playing FFX again. I've played for 11 hours, and now I'm at the Macalania Woods, right before you have to fight that blob thing. Remember that? Eww, I'll have to battle Seymour soon -shudder-. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chappie. It's a bit longer than my other ones too.  
  
**Disclaimer:** -posts a huge billboard in front of my house that reads 'Holly does not own DDR, so stop asking!' Ugh, this attempt to make an interesting disclaimer was pathetic. Oh, and sorry I make Shawn seem like a pervert stalker but he's not. He just really likes Kaeli, that's all. I drew pictures of my characters! I want you guys to see them. Well, along with my new computer, I got a printer/fax machine/copier/scanner. So, once I learn how, I'll scan the pictures and then you can see them on the internet. Cool, huh?  
  
**Chapter Seven: Play Time  
**  
"So what do you want to do first?" Shawn asked Kaeli as they got to the shore.  
  
"Hmmm, I want to go play in the water! I love swimming! Helps keep my legs strong for DDR!" Kaeli said.  
  
Yep, the water, my choice exactly, Shawn said to himself as Kaeli revealed her bathing suit. It was a black bikini with a little red heart on the side of the bottom half. Man, I'm really not trying to be perverted, she just looks so darn hot! Shawn had on dark blue swimming trunks. His physique was alright. DDR helped keep him in shape, so he wasn't fat, it's just that he didn't have much muscle.  
  
"You look really pretty, Kaeli." Shawn complimented.  
  
"Oh, thanks." Kaeli looked up and kicked the sand. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!"  
  
"You were waiting for me!" Shawn knew that voice all too well.  
  
"Oh, hey Jake. Nice idea you had to have the contest." she joked.  
  
"Yah, sorry 'bout that man." Jake, who was wearing fire-patterned trunks, gave Shawn a slap on the back. Why is he being all buddy-buddy, Shawn thought.  
  
"Mind if I hang with you guys?" Jake asked. Shawn caught him sizing Kaeli up.  
  
"Sure." Shawn heard Kaeli say. She looked at the two guys. "Last one to that white buoy is it!" she yelled, running towards the water.  
  
"This is better than Baywatch!" Jake said as he turned and ran too. Shawn rolled his eyes and followed along. Kaeli was already in the water swimming to the buoy by the time Shawn started running. Kaeli reached the buoy first followed by Jake. They waited there for a while then Shawn finally caught up to them.  
  
"Kind of slow there, eh Shawn?" Jake laughed.  
  
Shawn just rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand being around Jake. He especially couldn't stand Kaeli around Jake.  
  
"I see you rollin' your eyes!" Jake said, still treading water. "Hey, if you're still upset about the sandcastle contest I can make sure that everyone knows it was your idea. Would that make you feel better?" Jake said, almost like he was talking to a little baby.  
  
"Just leave it alone, alright? I don't care about that anymore!" Shawn exclaimed. He tried not to get to mad with Jake. He didn't want Kaeli to see his bad side, because she never did.  
  
"Whoa, sorry! Guess you'll be wanting a hug now, huh?"  
  
Shawn had had enough of Jake's snide remarks (though those of a certain female's are easy to enjoy). "Jake, you're such a jerk!" Shawn turned around and started swimming towards the shore.  
  
Kaeli looked at Jake then started to swim to Shawn. "Shawn! Stop! Wait up!" But Kaeli didn't get far as Jake pulled her back.  
  
"Wait a minute! Don't leave just yet! I thought we were gonna hang out together!" Jake said.  
  
"Yah, me too. That also included Shawn though. He's really upset and your silly little antics made him that way!" Kaeli said, looking away.  
  
"Yeesh...back where I live everyone loves my remarks. They're only jokes, I didn't think he was gonna take it seriously!" Jake still saw Kaeli's care for her friend in her eyes. He sighed. "Listen, I'll try not to be like that around Shawn because now I know he's not into that kind of joking. I just want us to have fun." Kaeli didn't respond. "Are you mad?"  
  
Kaeli slowly looked up again as her eyes met Jake's. "No, I'm not mad. You didn't know that Shawn would take it personally. I see that by joking around you weren't trying to be a bully, you were trying to be a friend. I better explain everything to Shawn before he thinks I've abandoned him as a friend." Kaeli said.  
  
"No wait. I got him angry, so I should go talk to him." Jake said.  
  
"Thanks." Kaeli said. She gave Jake a hug. "Oh, and Jake..." she called out as he started swimming to shore. "You're not a jerk."  
  
Jake smiled to himself as he swam to shore. He started looking around for Shawn, but the beach was crowded with people so he didn't find him right away. Finally he spotted Shawn way out on the farthest dock. "'Sup man, how're you doing?" Jake said, walking coolly up to Shawn, whose back was towards him.  
  
"I think you know how I'm doing!" Shawn snarled out.  
  
"Listen, I talked to your little girlfriend over there. I told her how I was just messin' with you. I didn't know you were gonna take it seriously. So I'm apologizing for what I said." Shawn remained motionless. "So, are we cool?"  
  
"I guess so. But I need to make some corrections to your little "speech". First of all, if you keep on making jokes like that, I'm gonna think you're serious. And second of all, Kaeli isn't my girlfriend." Shawn said, turning to face Jake.  
  
"I see..." Jake trailed off.  
  
"Not yet at least." Shawn quickly added.  
  
"Oh. Really?" Jake asked. The two guys stared at each other. A spark flew into both of their minds at the same time. Jake looked out into the water where Kaeli was swimming around near the buoy. He looked back at Shawn. Shawn looked out to Kaeli, then turned to Jake. Then they both jumped into the water and swam as fast as they could to be the first to reach Kaeli.  
  
Kaeli looked up to see both guys struggling to swim to her. When they reached her (at the same time) she said. "Another race, huh?" Shawn and Jake both quickly looked at each other.  
  
"Sort of." Jake said. "Hey Kae, I was wondering if you'd like to be my partner in the sandcastle contest. It's coming up in a little bit."  
  
"Why don't we all be on the same team?" Kaeli suggested.  
  
"Oh yah, that's what I meant." Jake said. "It'll be fun."  
  
"Leaving your other roommates out, huh?" they turned around to see Rinoa and Vivica swimming towards them. Viv was wearing a pink AF bikini, while Rinoa had on a flowery blue tankini. It's weird, you can always tell someone's personality by their swimsuit.  
  
"You can be on the team too." Kaeli smiled.  
  
"Let's play chicken! I always play it when I go to the beach. I can't break the tradition today!" Rinoa gleamed.  
  
"Sounds cool. We have 20 minutes before the contest starts. We can play for a while, then we can decide on an idea for the contest before we're timed to sculpt it." Vivica explained.  
  
"I'm with Kaeli." Jake called out quickly, picking his partner for chicken. Kaeli jumped on Jake's shoulders. Rinoa wanted to go first, so she hopped onto Shawn's shoulders. He would have rather had Kaeli's sexy body on his. Though Rinoa was thin and pretty, his heart was already set on Kaeli. Viv blew the imaginary whistle and they were off! As Jake and Shawn inched closer to each other, Kaeli and Rinoa both grabbed each other and tried to knock each other off into the water. Rinoa locked Kaeli's arm in hers, and grabbed with her other hand Kaeli's free arm and pulled it back. Kaeli twisted then fell off Jake's shoulders.  
  
"I want a rematch!" Kaeli said, getting back on Jake's shoulders. "How did you do that?"  
  
Rinoa smiled, still on Shawn. "I go to the beach a lot. I've learned a lot of techniques." Another call from Viv to start and the rematch began. Kaeli and Rinoa locked their fingers together and began an all out wobble-fest. In the end, they ended up pulling each other down together. After a few matches interchanging with Viv, the five roommates headed back to shore for the contest. They heard a quick announcement on the intercom for the DDR contestants to come near the lifeguard stand if they wanted to be in the sandcastle contest. It would start in five minutes.  
  
"What are we going to build?" Shawn asked.  
  
"It has to be something creative, that no one else would do." Viv said.  
  
"It has to look complicated but be easy to do." Kaeli added. Everyone thought for a while.  
  
"How about a DDR machine?" Jake suggested. "We could even make the screen have arrows for a song!"  
  
"Great idea, Jay!" Rinoa said.  
  
"No, no, no, no, no! It's Jake, not Jay, Rin. I cannot have a nickname. Only you guys can." Jake said.  
  
"All teams listen up!" Joe Rogin said. You'll have 25 minutes to make your sculpture. It can be made of anything here from the beach-sand, water, seashells, seaweed, and sticks are all acceptable. If you mess up someone else's sand sculpture you are disqualified. You will come up with a team name in a minute. Any questions?"  
  
Someone from another team raised his hand. "Is there a prize?"  
  
"Yes, but you won't know it just yet." Rogin said. He gave everyone some time to come up with a team name. There was the "Soon to be DDR Elite", "The Cruisers", "Charlie's Angels plus one", and Kaeli's team, "The Danimal Fruit Yogurts".  
  
"Awesome name right?" Jake said, the maker of the team name. Shawn shot Jake a "come on!" look. "What? That yogurt is the bomb!"  
  
"Everyone ready? On your mark, get set, go!" People were running everywhere- gathering materials and fetching water. The Danimal Fruit Yogurts decided to make almost everything out of sand. The arrows on the ground would be made out of seaweed, the arrows on the screen out of seashells. The speakers would have sticks coming out of them so it shows that the music is playing loud.  
  
"25 minutes is not long at all! We gotta get a move on!" Viv said as she helped Kaeli build the machine out of sand. Jake and Shawn were getting the water to hold the sand together while Rinoa looked for the other small materials. Soon they had the two pads and part of the screen. That was the hardest part, since it had to be tall and thick.  
  
"Contestants, ten more minutes!" Rogin announced.  
  
"Aw man, we gotta hurry!" Shawn said. Rinoa had gathered all the materials like sticks so she started to help build the screen. Shawn let Jake fetch the water as he also helped the girls. Soon, everything was perfect, the screen was complete, and all the small pieces were on it.  
  
"Time's up!" Rogin said, Immediately everyone stopped. All of the teams had been done a little bit earlier except for "The Cruisers". The teams guarded their sand works from other people or the wind as Rogin walked around and viewed teams' work. "Soon to be DDR Elite" made a sea life scene with a turtle, dolphin, stingray, and real seaweed coming up from the ground. "The Cruisers" created the Statue of Liberty but it wasn't completely done. "Charlie's Angels plus one" sculpted two people, one playing with a real beach ball, the other relaxing on a real towel. After each team explained their piece, Rogin had the results.  
  
"All four teams worked really hard on their sculptures, but only the team in first place will get the prize."  
  
"I really hope we win!" Kaeli said. "We worked so hard!"  
  
"Yah, but so did "Soon to be DDR Elite"!" Shawn cried.  
  
Rogin continued. "In fourth place is..."The Cruisers". Nice job guys, but it should have been finished." The team immediately sat down, looking upset and tired. 'In third place is..."Charlie's Angels plus one"! Great sculptures but too plain."  
  
"See, I told you it was a stupid idea!" yelled one of the team members.  
  
"And finally, in second place is..."Soon to be DDR elite"! Great sculptures, but one team's was creative and obviously hard to make. Let's give a big round of applause for the first place team-"The Danimal Fruit Yogurts"!" Everyone clapped for them. A DDR machine is very one-of-a-kind!  
  
"We won! Alright!" Jake exclaimed.  
  
"And it was your idea too. Nice one, Jake!" Kaeli said, running over to him and hugging him.  
  
"So, what's our prize?" Rin asked, anxious to know.  
  
"Oh right," said Joe Rogin. "It's about tonight at the carnival. You will each get ten extra tickets along with the twenty that you'll already get. That way, you get to play more games and go on more rides."  
  
"Thirty tickets?! That's so cool!" Viv exclaimed.  
  
"Well, it had to be a great prize." Rogin said. He reached for the megaphone next to him. "Attention all DDR contestants, we will be leaving in ten minutes! Time to clean up and head on the bus! We will give a five minute warning before we leave!" People were starting to get out of the water and get the sand off themselves, change, etc.  
  
"Hey, Kaeli, let's be the first ones of the bus so we can get the backseats. They're always the best!" Jake said.  
  
"Okay!" Kaeli smiled. "Lemme just get my stuff from the lockers." Kaeli ran to the lockers and quickly pulled out her bag. She dried herself off, put on some shorts and slipped into some chunky sandals. She didn't bother putting her tank top on and left her damp, stringy hair down. When she got out Jake led her to the bus. Shawn emerged from the guy's locker rooms just to see Jake and Kaeli enter the bus.  
  
"Why didn't she ask me to come with her?" Shawn asked. He quickly followed them as he heard Rogin announce "five minutes left". As he entered the bus, he couldn't see where they were, but he heard laughing coming from the back of the bus. Shawn tried to be quiet as he traveled to the back. "Whatcha doing?!" Shawn said as Jake and Kaeli came into view.  
  
"Just havin' fun!" Jake laughed. "What're you doing?"  
  
"I was just looking for Kaeli. She's my friend too." Shawn said.  
  
"Oh right, I forgot, you two are inseparable." Jake joked. "Lighten up, she can do what she wants."  
  
Kaeli looked kind of confused. "Is there something you wanted, Shawn?"  
  
Shawn looked around, trying to think of something but he couldn't. "Uh, no. I'll just go sit over here." he said, moving near the front. Even though on the ride to the Gilderton he was accompanied by Rinoa and Vivian, he still felt left out. When they got back to the hotel, Rogin explained that they would have two hours to get ready and hang out before they left for the carnival at 4:30.  
  
"Everyone except for the winning team will get twenty tickets for games and rides. Also, each person will get five dollars for dinner and snacks. The bus will be ready at 9:30, which gives you five hours of nonstop fun! And, if you run out of tickets or money, there are still live performances and other activities that you don't need anything for." Rogin explained.  
  
The "Danimal Fruit Yogurts" headed back to their hotel room to get ready. Of course, the girls quickly grabbed the bathrooms.  
  
"Girls, so very typical." Jake said in his room. He threw his wet trunks on the carpet floor and began drying his hair on his pillow.  
  
"Oh yah, they're the typical ones." Shawn responded sarcastically. Shawn changed into jeans, a white polo shirt, and a red hoodie. As he was digging through his luggage bag, he spotted the note. The note, he thought. He had almost forgotten about the poem he wrote to Kaeli. I have to give it to her tonight. It would be the perfect time. Too bad someone else had in mind that tonight was also the perfect time to do something.

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**Reviews:** (Yes, I'm doing them this time)!

**Zanisha: **Yah, I know I died, but at least you revived me! Yay! Anyways, you'll just have to wait and see what happens! Will Kaeli choose Shawn? Has she ever had feelings for her best friend? Or will she fall for Jake? What does she see in him if she does? Well, those are some questions that will be answered sometime. May not be soon, but they'll be answered. Muahahaha! I love being the author! -evilness-

**Lithe: **That is so cool how you say your name 'lee-they'. But I miss Lyphe! I think I already told you that in my review, but whatever. Anyways, glad you like it!

Okay, my sis is on some trip, so that's why she didn't review, but where are all my other peoples? It's interesting that the only people that reviewed the last chappie were my KH friends. Yay, KH for life! (and friends for life!) Well, as long as you two review I'll be happy! :)


	8. Those Words

**AN:** Hey guys! I really like this chappie because it has a song and a poem in it. Actually, I don't know what you guys will think of this chappie...MUAHAHAHA!!! Ahem...anyways, I wish I could go to a carnival now! Well, my family's going to do something fun today. I think we were gonna go miniature golfing (I'll probably stink at it). lol  
  
**Disclaimer:** I will now put the responsibility of doing disclaimers in the hands of my good friend, Mr. Moogle! So now, I won't have to come up with ridiculous ways to say I don't..oops, better leave that to Mr. Moogle...  
  
**Mr. Moogle:** I thought that everything would be fun and games once Holly bought me at the pet shop. But alas, the second I enter her house, she throws this huge responsibility at me! Okay, okay. Cleverness...I must be clever...I can't think of anything clever! Well, I guess that Holly does not own DDR, but she does own me (which may be a bad thing, I don't know). Sorry, don't hurt me, I'm a newbie at disclaimers...  
  
**Chapter Eight: Those Words  
**  
"Woo-hoo! Carnival time!" Rinoa exclaimed. They were at the carnival grounds, refreshed from their swim and dressed in new attire. Rinoa and Vivian were both dressed in capris and tube tops. Kaeli wore a jean skirt and a red lacey tank over a white one. Jake had on, let me guess, black, baggy jeans and a Trapt shirt? Bingo. Shawn wore khaki shorts and a blue t- shirt. They were already given their thirty tickets, and they had five hours of fun.  
  
"I'm like a kid in a candy shop!" Kaeli smiled. "Where should we all go first?"  
  
Jake started jumping up and down, then did a back flip. "Ooh, ooh, the games! I wanna spend three hours on one game to try to win a cheap toy about an inch big that was made in Korea for two cents!!!!"  
  
Almost everyone around Jake stopped dead and stared at him. One of the contestants that had heard him looked at him oddly. "Why are you so hyp-"  
  
"Up, up, up...candy shop." Jake said, holding his hand to her lips.  
  
Shawn rolled his eyes. _What a freak!_ "Can we just go?" Eventually the people stopped staring and the group moved on to their first game. Ahh, the water gun race. Everyone put in two tickets to play. The game was a close match between Shawn and Vivian, but Shawn ended up winning.  
  
"Alright!!" he yelled.  
  
The person running the game was some old lady with a cigarette in her mouth. Her nametag said Sadie. "Whatcha wan'?" Shawn picked the purple pig. It was a decent size and not as ugly as it sounds.  
  
"Do you want Pork Grind, Kaeli?" Shawn asked.  
  
"Huh? Oh, I'm not that hungry right now." She responded.  
  
Shawn let out a laugh. "No, not the food. I'm talking about the stuffed pig. I named him Pork Grind."  
  
Jake rolled his eyes. _What a freak!_  
  
"Oh, I'd love to have it if you don't want it!" Kaeli chuckled. Shawn handed Pork Grind to Kaeli.  
  
"I wanna win something!!" Viv and Rin wailed in unison.  
  
"If I can win three games, I'll give you girls the prizes." Jake stepped up.  
  
"Really? Cool!" Rinoa said. "But let's play a different game. These racing octopuses are scaring me. Hold me Shawn!" Rinoa threw herself on Shawn and started shivering. "They're coming to get me, I know it, all eight of its legs!"  
  
"What did they do to us? We've become really hyper, and now I'm starting to get scared!" Kaeli said. "I think I'm just gonna hang out by myself for a while."  
  
Shawn glanced at Jake, who was looking down. _Quick, I better go with Kaeli before Jake does._"Lemme go with you."  
  
Kaeli looked uncertain. "Mmmm...I'd rather just be alone for a while. But I'll meet up with you guys later." She gave a weak smile then walked away in the direction of the rides.  
  
"I hope Kaeli's okay! Maybe she's sick." Viv said, frowning.  
  
"It might be her "friend"." Jake said. Viv and Rinoa punched Jake.  
  
"Shut up!" they both said.  
  
Shawn looked confused. "Huh? What friend? Are you talking about me?!" Jake, Rinoa, and Vivian turned to Shawn and laughed.  
  
The now group of four stuck together for the next couple hours. Jake did keep his promise, winning three prizes, but he still had a bear for Kaeli. They also went on practically all the rides and ate dinner-a balanced meal of hotdogs, nachos, and coke. Rinoa, Vivian and Shawn went on a ride while Jake waited, but when they got off, he was gone. They just shrugged it off and continued on to the next attraction.  
  
"Where do you guys wanna go next? I say the Ferris wheel. It's only three tickets and I've got exactly that!" Viv said.  
  
"But I want to go to the Fun House, and I only have two tickets left!" Rinoa exclaimed.  
  
"Well, I have some tickets left, but I don't want to go in the Fun House. There's about thirty minutes left until we have to leave, so I'm just gonna do my own thing." Shawn said. _And maybe I can find Kaeli. I haven't seen her since she left us hours ago...  
_  
"That's fine, Shawn. We'll just go to the Fun House!" Viv said.  
  
Shawn walked along the littered pathway, trying to decide where to go. Then he saw blinking lights and looked up. "The Ferris Wheel!" Shawn said outloud. He walked into line. A little bit in front of him he spotted Kaeli.  
  
"Kaeli! Over here!" Shawn called to her.  
  
Kaeli turned around. "Oh, Shawn! Hey!" she smiled. She motioned for him to come in line with her. "Do you wanna go on the ride-"  
  
"Together? Definitely." Shawn said. Shawn noticed that Kaeli had two stuffed animals-Pork Grind and the bear. _So Jake went looking for Kaeli_, he thought.  
  
"Sorry I went off by myself. I didn't mean to be so long, but I couldn't find you guys. I just needed to go solo for a little bit. But I'm fine now! Actually, I'm happy! Plus I finally found you!" Kaeli explained.  
  
Kaeli and Shawn handed the operator their three tickets each and sat in the rocking seats. "I don't remember the last time I was on one of these things!" Shawn said, looking a little nervous.  
  
Kaeli spotted his anxiety. "Come on, Shawn. Don't start freaking out now. DDR competitions will be way more scarier than this don't you think?" Shawn laughed.  
  
"Yah, you're right." _Right...the right time...is tonight...right here...right now!!_ Shawn put his hand in his pocket and felt the letter, still there after all this time, finally going to be revealed. Shawn looked over to Kaeli, who was staring into the stars. _The cool breeze, us alone together...everything is perfect. She's so beautiful and smart. You can't be scared, Shawn, that's what Kaeli said. You gotta take the chance and make that wish at the fountain come true. I'll...do it...  
_  
_I'm so scared,  
So afraid to show I care,  
Will she think me weak,  
If I tremble when I speak?  
What if there's another one she's thinking of?  
Maybe she's in love,  
I'd feel like a fool,  
Life can be so cruel,  
I don't know what to do,  
Should I...tell her....  
_  
"Shawn, I have something to tell you." Kaeli said, suddenly turning to face Shawn, who was stopped abruptly. He was about to talk but Kaeli did so he listened intently. _Maybe she'll say everything so I won't have to_, Shawn thought.  
  
"What is it?" Shawn asked.  
  
"These past few days have been so much fun! I've met so many great friends- Rinoa, Vivian, and Jake. But I've been really happy lately. I didn't know why until today." Kaeli continued talking, hugging tightly her two prizes. "I realized that I really like someone."  
  
Shawn let out a gentle smile. _And that someone is me_.  
  
"And that someone is Jake." Kaeli said. "We were talking a little while ago, and we're officially going out! I had to tell my best friend first of course before I told Rin and Viv!"  
  
Shawn just stared at Kaeli blankly, still trying to take in what he had just heard. Though he was perfectly still, there was a lot of movement going on inside. It was his heart breaking. Shawn never thought he would say this. "I'm...so happy for you..." Shawn was kicking himself inside._If I was only a couple minutes earlier...  
_  
Kaeli saw a flicker in Shawn's eyes. "Are you okay? You seem...I don't know..."  
  
"Oh no, I'm fine, I just, uh...I'm just getting a little sick being so high up. Being, uh, fifty feet off the ground is not really my specialty. Plus those nachos did me a number." Shawn lied. They remained silent until the end of the ride.  
  
Shawn immediately ran off of the ride once it was over. _How could she do this to me?! Well, it wasn't her fault. She didn't know that I liked her. But if she's going out with Jake now, that means that she never liked me in the first place. So, all this time I've been holding in my emotions for nothing. I've been thinking about her, writing about her, dreaming about her...and for what?!_ Shawn was angrier with himself more than anything. To get everything off his chest, he decided to use his last two tickets for the bumper cars. _I'll just imagine that every car I hit is really Jake! Ha ha!  
_  
The bumper car game began, and Shawn was doing pretty well at first. He drove around, smacking cars left and right. He even had the nerve to bump really hard into a car with some little kids in it. _Take that Jake! And that!  
_  
_But why, Kaeli? How could you fall for a jerk like Jake? You barely know him, so why are you going out with him? I've known you all my life, yet he's the one who gets you. It's not fair!!!_ Tears slowly started to form in Shawn's eyes. _No, I will not cry...I will not..._But the tears didn't stop coming, and those feelings didn't go away.  
  
_To Cry for the One You Love...  
  
Oh, how I wish to cry;  
  
For I cannot be with her now.  
  
How I wish she were here!  
  
Her words bring comfort to me,  
  
And her smile makes me happy.  
  
Her eyes make me melt,  
  
And her embrace,  
  
Her embrace makes me feel that there's hope for the future.  
  
Her kiss,  
  
Alas I know not of her kiss;  
For she does not return my passion to me,  
  
_"Why does it have to be like this?" Shawn said to himself. "This was not the way things were supposed to turn out! And now...now I'll never be able to feel her kiss, because she does not love me in return."  
  
_But on a guess I would have to declare that it would place me in such a  
  
utopia  
  
That heaven cannot describe the warmth I would feel from her kiss.  
  
Unfortunately, my love is ignored  
  
To the point that I can take it not.  
  
For it is hard when the one you love does not return your passion.Woe is me  
to not have comfort.  
  
She is my muse,  
  
But only so much inspiration can be drawn from a friend.  
  
How I wish we could be together!  
  
One day maybe,  
  
But for now we are separate,  
  
And separation is true pain!  
  
_The bumper cars slowed to a stop. Shawn quickly jumped out, walking as fast as he could through the crowd. _Pain...I'm in pain!! I can't bear to see Kaeli with Jake...I just can't! I thought that I was falling in love, but maybe now I might be falling out...  
_  
=======================================================  
  
Sorry this chappie was kinda short. I love this poem so much, and it works so well with the story! It's written by Lorrelion (penname on ). He said I can use it, so all's good. Well, what will happen next? Will Shawn ask Kaeli about her feelings for Jake? Will Shawn's feelings for Kaeli go away? Tomorrow's the regional competition, so who will stay and who will go? I can't wait! I don't know why I'm asking all these questions! I should know the answers, right? Anyways, that other part was the song called "Tell Him" by Celene Dion. Yah, I had to change the 'he's to 'she's in order to make it work. lol  
  
**Reviews:  
**  
**Zanisha:** Yes, if I have time today, I'll try to scan my pics. And then have a link in my profile or something. I dunno. But yah, I know you're wondering even more now of what Kaeli sees in Jake. We'll find out soon enough why she decided to go out with him.  
  
**Lithe:** Thanks for checking highly recommended for this fic! Yay! Yes, doesn't everybody hate Jake? Well, obviously Kaeli doesn't hate him. Again, you'll find out why Kaeli did what she did.

Thanks for reading!


	9. The Regional Competition

**AN:** This chappie will probably freak you out. Well, more towards the end. But don't worry, all questions will be answered. I know that the big question everyone has is 'Why is Kaeli going out with Jake?'. That question will be answered in the next chappie.  
  
**Mr. Moogle:** If anyone would like to see what Holly looks like, and her sister Heather (HisLight) too, just click on her cheap homepage in her profile, then go to the webs album. Now what am I supposed to say? Oh yah, Holly doesn't own Dance Dance Revolution.  
  
**Chapter Nine: The Regional Competition  
**  
The morning didn't seem to come soon enough. Shawn had had a rough night. He couldn't sleep at all after hearing those words- _'I realized that I really like someone, and that someone is Jake.'Jake is such a jerk, why can't Kaeli see that? Why can't she see that we are meant to be...and that I love her? I'll love her no matter what she does or say. It's impossible for me not to..._ The sleepless night had an even worse affect on Shawn because today was the regional competition. Having something so heavy on his heart on mind could cost him the tournament.

"So, you all ready to pack up and leave?" Shawn heard a voice say. He broke out of his daze to see Jake standing there, looking pumped to play DDR.  
  
Shawn rolled his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere." he said, a strong determination in his eyes. "But I have a feeling you will."  
  
Jake looked a little taken back by Shawn's remark. "Hey, hey, don't worry shorty. You're only going home if you're up against me!" he laughed, fiddling with his spiky bracelet. "Anyways, the first round of competitions starts in 30. Just thought I'd let you know since you seemed kinda out of it." Jake said, walking out of the room.  
  
Shawn sighed. "I can't let my emotions get the best of me...even though it would be the best feeling in the world to punch Jake! No..." Shawn said a bit more quietly. "The best feeling in the world would be to know that Kaeli would be mine forever." Shawn sat there for a little while longer, then quickly slipped out of his boxers and put on some fresh clothes, making sure they were good DDR attire. "Today's the day..."  
  
Once all of the contestants got down to the main room, Joe Rogin randomly passed out numbers to determine who'd be up against who and in what order. Out of those contestants, they'd compete until there were 5 left. Those 5 would be crowned regional DDR elite and would then go on to the state competition.  
  
Shawn looked down at the number he was handed...#5. "Well, at least I'm not going first!" Shawn said. He scanned the crowd, hoping to see his roommates. Well, not Jake though. He spotted all of the girls talking together, so he quickly walked over there.  
  
"Hey Shawn!" Rinoa smiled. "What number do you have? I'm #10, so I don't have to go for a while."  
  
"I'm going fifth. What about the rest of you?" Shawn asked. He was hoping to not have to go up against anyone, especially Kaeli. If she danced against him, one of them would be sure to leave, unless they tied the score, which is utterly impossible.  
  
Viv frowned. "I'm number one! Wah! That means now I gotta go first! I'm so nervous!"  
  
"Well, I'm number 6." Kaeli said, much to Shawn's relief. "So I'm right after you, Shawn! This is so exciting!"

_Exciting? Can't you see that I'm not the least bit excited? The competition is the least of my worries. I'd rather lose the competition than lose you..._Shawn wanted to talk to Kaeli about everything that had happened last night, but it was not the right time. _I'll ask her what she sees in Jake. Well, he is more her type. But...there's something wrong with him...and I'm gonna find out what it is..._Shawn prayed so hard that he and Kaeli would make it to state and Jake wouldn't._That would be so cool!_  
  
Joe Rogin's voice broke through Shawn's thoughts. "Okay everyone, you know the rules. You'll only dance to one song. You must have a better grade and score than your opponent to move on to the next round. If you fail, you're automatically eliminated. Everyone understand?" There were a few head nods and 'yes's from the crowd. "Well then, if there's no questions, let the dancing begin!" There was a huge roar from all of the contestants. "Will the two people with the #1 cards please come up to the DDR machine?"  
  
Of course, Vivica walked up there, scared out of her pants. "Wish me luck!" she called nervously from the front. A strong, dark haired guy also came up and stood next to Viv.  
  
"Hey!" Kaeli exclaimed. "Isn't that the Witch Doctor?"  
  
"Yah, it is!" Shawn said. "Well, Viv's got no chance now!" Shawn and Kaeli reflected on that day they saw him dance at the Rainforest CafÉ.  
  
"I'm so glad I didn't get stuck with him!" Kaeli said, relieved.  
  
"Stuck with who?" Someone said, putting their hands over Kaeli's eyes. "Guess who?"  
  
Shawn rolled his eyes. Jake smelled kind of weird. Ugh, he needs a bath or something.  
  
"Jake?" Kaeli asked. Her eyes were uncovered and she turned around. "Jake!" she exclaimed, giving him a hug. "Where've you been?"  
  
"Um...just around." Jake said. "So, number 6 huh? Well, I'm number 12. Good ole number 12!"  
  
"The last number? Man, you're lucky!" Shawn said. He liked going last better than going first, or close to first for that matter.  
  
"Yah, I'm lucky. But not because I'm going last, but because I've got such a great girl!" Jake said.  
  
"Oh, that's so sweet!" Kaeli said. She leaned in and gave Jake a kiss.  
  
Jake flashed a grin. "Yep, quite lucky indeed..."  
  
Shawn turned away. _Way to punch me in the face! Man, Jake knows I like Kaeli, so he's purposely shoving this in my face!_ He looked over and saw Kaeli and Jake laughing together._You go ahead and laugh, Jake, but at the end of all this, when you've lost the competition and the girl, we'll see who's smiling then!  
_  
By the time Shawn had snapped back into focus, the group of 4's were already dancing. _Oh man, I'm up next! Wait, did Viv make it? He looked around and spotted her being comforted by Rinoa. Then he saw the Witch Doctor being congratulated by several contestants._ "I guess I know how that turned out..."  
  
"Next up, #5's!" Rogin said on the microphone.  
  
_Kaeli, where's Kaeli,_ Shawn thought. "Oh well, she probably won't want to see me dance anyways, let alone care if I lose." Shawn found his way to the front. He closed his eyes, praying for an easy opponent. He heard Rogin say that the other contestant arrived. When he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with a 13 year old boy. _Yes!_ Shawn yelled in his head. _Yes, yes, yes! I can out dance this little kid!_ Both stepped onto the machine. _Okay_, Shawn thought._Clear your mind, forget about Kaeli...  
_  
"Good luck, Shawn!" he heard an all too familiar voice exclaim. He turned around to see Kaeli right behind him, as close as she could get. "I'm rooting for you!" she smiled.  
  
_Oh, that smile,_ Shawn thought, melting. Great, how can I not think of her now?  
  
Rogin talked into his mic, pushing the random button on the DDR machine. "And the heavy song they must dance to is..." Rogin pushed the button again, making it stop on a song. "...End of the Century!"  
  
Shawn was a little nervous. He can get a B on that song, maybe an A if he's not tired. At least he knew the song. End of the Century began to start, and arrows soon filled up the screen. Shawn did the first part perfectly. When it came to the middle of the song with the huge combos, he was starting to wear down a bit. Shawn felt his leg muscles tighten, and he could feel burning. Shawn concentrated not only with hitting the arrows correctly, but also with his timing. More perfects meant a better score. If the other kid and him both got 'A's, they'd judge by the numbered score at the bottom of the screen.  
  
While Shawn was dancing, he could tell that his opponent was also doing well. Shawn did a small jump combo, and then he heard the game say '200 combo!'. He didn't want to look and see who hadn't missed a step yet because that might break his concentration.  
  
The song ended, and the crowd clapped and cheered. The grades came up on the screen, as well as the scores. Rogin gave the announcement. "Brian has a 'B', and Shawn has an 'A', which means...Shawn is the winner!"  
  
Shawn couldn't believe it. He stumbled off the metal pad, giving himself a mental pat on the back.  
  
"You did it, Shawn! You're going to state!" Kaeli exclaimed. She gave Shawn a giant hug, which was exactly what he needed.  
  
"Now it's time for the #6's!" Rogin said.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot that I'm next!" Kaeli said, her mouth turning from a smile of excitement to a grin of determination.  
  
A 17 year old girl also stepped up to the machine. Her brown hair was wrapped tightly into a bun. She too looked pumped to dance.  
  
"Go Kaeli!" Shawn yelled. "I know you can beat her!" Kaeli gave a smile, but Shawn's exclamation was also heard by the opponent. She flashed Shawn an evil glare then turned back around. "And their song is..." Rogin gave a queasy look. "Ooh, folks, that's gotta hurt! These two ladies will have to dance to Max 300!" There was quite a few gasps from the other contestants.  
  
"Oh no..." Shawn said sadly. _What if Kaeli gets out and Jake stays? I'll be stuck with that loser for at least another two days! Wait, what am I doing? Why am I doubting the abilities of my friend?_ Shawn suddenly thought of a plan. "Oh man, Kaeli, are you ever lucky!"  
  
Kaeli whirled around and gave Shawn a look of confusion. _Lucky? He's gotta be kidding me!_She saw Shawn give a quick wink.  
  
Shawn continued, talking rather loudly so that Kae's opponent could hear. "I mean, we totally practiced this song before we came here. And what, you've had it mastered for like, 3 months!"  
  
Kaeli caught Shawn's drift. She sighed, leaning against the bar. "Yah, but it'll be boring as usual. I'll just end up getting another AA."  
  
Shawn smiled. "Don't worry. Hopefully you can find a faster song next time" Shawn's plan seemed to work quite well. Kaeli's opponent seemed really flustered. She started looking around nervously and her legs were shaking slightly.  
  
Kaeli turned her head so the other girl couldn't see and mouthed a quick 'Thank you', before turning around again. The song started, and the fast paced footwork began! The music seemed to make everyone who hadn't mastered that song yet shudder. Kaeli concentrated as hard as she could. _If I can just hold out longer than the other girl. Even if I get a D, she might fail, especially with Shawn's little act. Oops, gotta concentrate on the song!_ Kaeli was stumbling slightly, and she knew that she wasn't hitting the arrows perfectly. Once she did a left-down-right-right-down-left combo, she saw the screen flashing red...on her opponent's side of the screen! Kaeli could also hear the girl off beat, unable to catch up with the fast arrows.  
  
Kaeli was starting to weaken. Her legs felt like they were going to give out from under her at any second. Then for some reason, Shawn popped in her mind. _He believes I can do this...If I just hold out a little longer..._Suddenly the song ended. Kaeli's heart was beating triple overtime. She closed her eyes and slumped on the bar behind her, letting it hold her up. She felt herself sliding down, but she was too tired to bring herself back up. Then she felt two hands gently bring her up. She steadied herself. "Jake?" she whispered, opening her eyes. Instead she saw Shawn, a look of both happiness and sadness on his face. "Oh, Shawn...I-"  
  
"It's okay. I've got you." Shawn said, giving Kaeli a comforting look.  
  
"Who...who won?" Kaeli asked. 'See for yourself' was the response. She looked at the screen. Her side...D. Her opponent's side...F. "I...I made it!!" she exclaimed. Suddenly all her energy returned to her, knowing that she'd be moving on to the state competition, and with Shawn too. Kaeli threw herself on Shawn, hugging him nearly to death. After her 5 minute celebration she suddenly remembered something. "Hey, where's Jake? He said he was gonna watch me dance!"  
  
"Hmmm.." Shawn said. He didn't remember seeing Jake ever since he left to dance. "I don't know." _What does that say about Jake? He's Kaeli's boyfriend, yet I'm the one here for her!  
_  
"C-could you find him for me? I mean, maybe he did see me dance, but maybe not." Kaeli asked. Shawn looked uneasy about looking for Jake, but Kaeli's puppy dog eyes and pouty lips were not something a guy passed up easily.  
  
"Alright, I'll look for him..." Shawn said. "I know that you're tired, so you just stay here." Shawn led Kaeli over to Rinoa, who still hadn't danced yet. "Number 7's!" Shawn heard Rogin say on the mic. "Now, where could this loser be..." Shawn said out loud. _What kind of a guy skips out on his girlfriend's competition? And Jake still has to compete, even though he's going last!_ Shawn went upstairs and checked in their room first. No one was there. Next Shawn looked near the cafe, and then the water fountain, which reminded Shawn about his wish. "I guess that'llnever come true..."  
  
Shawn had looked almost everywhere. "Ugh, I give up!" he exclaimed. I need some fresh air. Shawn headed outside. It was a nice afternoon, especially for those staying in the competition. He walked along the side of the pool. Surprisingly, not too many people were in it at the present moment, though many were tanning on the lawn chairs next to the pool. As Shawn rounded the corner, he spotted Jake. _There's that little jerk_, Shawn thought. He was about to call out his name and give him a piece of his mind when he realized what Jake was holding in his hand.  
  
_It can't be? No, it can't be a...cigarette?_ But it was there, plain for Shawn to see. He even saw Jake taking a few puffs. _How can a DDR player smoke? Is that why he smelled so weird_ _before? _Not wanting to take the risk of being seen by Jake, Shawn quickly headed back inside. _This is unbelievable...Yah, unbelievable, but will Kaeli believe me when I tell her? Should I tell her? This would be the perfect way to break them up. Kaeli would never still go out with a smoker, would she?_ These thoughts surrounded Shawn's mind as he raced back to the main room where the competition was being held. Shawn shook his head again. _Unbelievable..._  
  
========================================================  
  
-gleams with evilness- Yah yah yah, you probably have a billion more questions for me! Oh, and I hope you liked the way I wrote the competition. 'Cause I didn't want to have it all like 'right, down, up/down combo, left'. Yah, 'cause that would be kinda boring. So I tried to make it as interesting as possible. BTW, next chappie might take me a while to post 'cause I'm not sure what I want to write about next.  
  
Reviews:  
  
Lithe: Yes, I do like messing with my characters' lives, as you can quite clearly see in this chappie. MUAHAHAHA!!!! You're a swimmer? Cool! I like swimming, but not like on a team or anything.  
  
ninjaShadow: Thanks for reading my fic!! Wow, you've never cried until now? Whoops...  
  
Zanisha: Oh yes, you evil reviewer. Well, you're not evil, but you caught my mistake!!! You're right, Viv's name IS Vivica and not Vivian. Little mess up there....oh well, no one's perfect.  
  
HisLight: Yes, everybody DOES hate Jake. I do too! Well, like I said before, I won't be updating this for a while. Me too lazy to write story....no no, I'll definitely write in it, I just need time!!  
  
Thanks for reading!!!


	10. The Aftermath

1**AN:** Konichiwa!! I think I spelled that right...Anyways, thanks for being patient!! And this chappie is longer too, so I'm very proud of it. Oh, and I've got everything worked out. I made an outline for this fic, so now I know everything that's gonna happen in each chappie. Yah, it took me a while to do, but in the end it'll make it so much more easier since I won't have to plan out what I'm gonna do. So, there's gonna be about 5 more chappies left. It might be more, but based on my outline, that's it. Enjoy this chappie, and hopefully a lot of your questions will be answered.

**Mr. Moogle:** I tried to escape yesterday, but Holly grabbed me and-**aliasfan:** Hey, I told you to keep your mouth shut about your daily beatings!!! Oops, I mean daily hugs...o.O**Mr. Moogle:** Anyways, she doesn't own Dance Dance Revolution. -whispers- Please save me...**aliasfan:** I heard that!!!!....::::j/k::.... :P**Chapter 10: The Aftermath**Shawn rushed back inside the hotel to the main room. The two #10's were already dancing. _Jake will have to come back soon. And when he does, he'll lose. How did he get into this competition in the first place? _Shawn spotted Kaeli in the crowd, and quickly ran up to her.Kaeli noticed Shawn and gave him a weird look. "Why are you panting?""I just traveled the whole earth looking for Jake!" Shawn said sarcastically. "Gimme a break!"Kaeli fidgeted a little bit. "Soooo...did you find him?"_This is it. Tell her or not...Well, if I had a girlfriend who smoked, I'd sure want someone to tell me. _"Yes, yes I did." Shawn and Kaeli both turned their heads to the DDR machine as they saw both contestants fail on a song."Oh!" Rogin exclaimed. "Looks like neither of them will be moving on to the next competition. Alright, #11's, you're up!"Shawn snapped back to what he was talking about. "Listen, Kaeli, I've got to talk to you about something. Well, actually a lot of things.""Now's not a good time, Shawn. Jake's gonna be dancing soon. How about we talk afterwards?" Kaeli asked."I-I guess that's okay." Shawn said. _Hmmm, shouldn't ole black lungs be here by now? _As if on cue, Jake walked up to them."Jake!!" Kaeli exclaimed. "Where were you?! You missed me dance!!"Jake looked shocked. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, baby, time just flew by!"_Yah, sure, whatever you say_, Shawn thought. _But soon Kaeli will know the truth, and what you say won't matter._Jake scooped Kaeli into his arms but she seemed reluctant to do so. "Soo...did you make it?"Kaeli was pouting, but her face quickly formed a smile. "What do you think? Of course I did!!"Jake grinned. "Alright! I knew you could make it! Hey. What about Rin and Viv?"Kaeli shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, no...""And what about you, shorty?" Jake asked Shawn, punching him in the arm."I made-""That's nice." Jake said, not paying him any attention. "So, Kaeli, about tonight-""#12's, the last set of contestants! Please make your way to the front!!" Rogin called."Looks like I'm up!" Jake said very nonchalantly._Strange_, Shawn thought. _He doesn't seem nervous or anything. Why is he so confident? Well, a better word to describe him is cocky...I mean, he smokes for goodness' sakes!_Kaeli took Shawn's arm and quickly led him to the front. "Good luck Jake!" she exclaimed. "You can win, I know you can!!"_Yah, he'll win the 'Best Jerk' award! _Shawn said to himself, chuckling slightly.Jake's opponent stepped up onto the arrows. The person was a girl the same age as Jake, 17. "She looks like a really tough player." Kaeli said, a little worried.Shawn nodded his head_. Yah, she does. She can probably beat Jake. I mean, I'm pretty sure she doesn't smoke! _"Oh well, better luck next year, Jake!" Shawn said.Jake turned to Shawn, a lock of black hair falling to his face. "Listen shorty, I ain't gonna lose! I was born a champ! You better just face the facts, 'cause sooner or later you'll have to face me in the competition, and it ain't gonna be pretty!"Rogin pushed the random button for a song. "The last song of the night is...'Look to the Sky'!""Aw man, Jake's so lucky! That song is super easy, even in heavy mode!" Shawn said, jealous because he had to do a hard song."No, that's a good thing. Now he has a greater chance of making it in!!" Kaeli gleamed. "But, I guess it will be kinda hard, since it all comes down to the numbered score. I mean, I have no doubt in my mind that both of these contestants will get A's. I'm pretty sure that they can dance to it easily."Sure enough, when the song started, both contestants danced with ease. Everything was synchronized, and the combos were easy. There were a lot of freeze arrows too, which also made the song a breeze. It was obvious that the contestants were doing really well. The song ended, and the grades were shown on the screen."Just as I predicated, folks!" Rogin exclaimed. "Both got an A!! Well, now we must judge based on their score."Shawn closed his eyes. _Please let Jake go home...then all of this will be a lot easier to deal with. This competition is supposed to be fun for me, not a hassle! _Rogin continued. "Jake's score is 3, 345, 000. Amelia's score is...3, 298, 563!!"_Nooooo!_ Shawn exclaimed in his head. _Great, now I'm gonna have to see him for at least another two days? I can't take the pain!!! _Shawn looked over to Kaeli, who was obviously excited."This means that we have found our final winner for the regional competition!!!" The crowd cheered, though many of the kids didn't. It suddenly hit them that they were going home. "Will the contestants who won and did not fail please step up on the stage!!" Kaeli, Shawn, and Jake both made their way to the stage. They found themselves standing next to only two other contestants. "Let's give a big round of applause to our Regional DDR elite: Jake, David, also known as the Witch Doctor, Shawn, Kaeli, and Quiko!!!" Joe Rogin then handed out plaques to each of them. "Congratulations! Everyone did a great job here, whether they're moving on or not."Kaeli looked down at her plaque. It was black with a nice gold lining and gold letters. It read:

The Konami Corporation

is honored to present this plaque to

Kaeli Abson

who is officially a member of the

Regional DDR elite.

Dance Dance Revolution

Of course, everyone else's said the same thing, except their name inserted in. Rogin soon gave further instructions. Everyone had packed earlier. Those that did not make it were sent home. The five that did would bring their luggage outside of the hotel and board a coach bus. They would be going to the state DDR elite competition in Chicago.

Shawn, Kaeli, and Jake made their way to their room. Kaeli skipped down the hall. "We made it, we made it, yay!!!""Someone's a little too excited." Shawn said. _I know I should be happy because I'm moving on in the competition, but it's hard to be, after finding out the girl I've had a crush on all my life doesn't like me._"Well, why can't she have her fun? Anyways, we're going to Chitown!! Woohoo!!" Jake started jumping up and down.While Jake and Kaeli were busy going crazy, Shawn opened the door to their room. They quickly ran in, happy and excited. But what they saw next made them stop dead in their tracks. There was Rinoa and Vivica, sitting next to their luggage, with sad looks."Oops..." Kaeli said. She didn't mean to rub it in that she was one of the winners. She knew that she'd be depressed too if she had lost. "Oh, we're sorry, girls..."Rinoa shook her head. "It's okay. You guys won...you should be happy. You should celebrate...""I know..." Kaeli said. "But it doesn't feel right to celebrate...knowing that some really great friends I've met are leaving...""Well, the Worldwide DDR elite competition is televised. If you make it that far, we'll know." Vivica said. Everyone said their goodbyes, giving hugs and kind words. "I'll miss you all. Good luck!!"The five roommates made their way outside. There was the coach bus for the winners, and all along the street were cars and vans of the families that lost. They were called and notified to come and pick their child up. It was really depressing though, 'cause some kids were crying in their parent's arms."Well, I guess this is goodbye." Shawn said to Rinoa and Vivica. They all gave another group hug, then they left. Shawn, Jake, and Kaeli boarded the coach bus, storing their luggage in the compartments inside or on the side of the bus."This is so cool!! Look, there are t.v.'s in here!!" Jake exclaimed. He jumped into one of the comfortable seats, blasting the air conditioning in his face. Then he turned, looking at the back of the bus. "Hey, Shawn, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that they have a toilet in here!! Ha ha!!"Shawn was surprised when Kaeli actually spoke up for him. "Jake, don't make jokes like that!! You shouldn't be mean!!!"Shawn smiled. _That's my girl..._The ride to Chicago was pretty uneventful. The Witch Doctor, Quiko, Shawn, and Kaeli all slept, while Jake was busy watching the movie that was playing on the t.v.: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Well, at least everyone tried to sleep. Jake kept waking them up when he was laughing and repeating movie phrases loudly. The trip didn't take too long, but they got to the Ritz Carlton Hotel at around 9:00 p.m.Even though it was very late, the city was still bustling with noise and excitement. Lights were flashing from various clubs, people were just entering restaurants, and of course, tons of people were going in and out of the hotel. In the background they could hear the faint music of a beggar trying to make some money banging on some drums."Welcome to Chicago, also known as Chitown!" Rogin exclaimed once they made it to the main room in the hotel. "As you know, here is where the state competition will be held!! There are two other regions that are also here. In all, there are fourteen contestants. All of you will compete until there are three winners. Those three winners will then go on to the national competition. But enough of that for now, since you won't even be competing for a while anyways."Suddenly the two other groups of regional winners came through the doors. "Welcome, come in, come in!" Rogin said. "I'm sure you've already been explained the rules. But now we will talk about roommates." Many groans were heard throughout the group. Rogin laughed. "I know what you're thinking: 'Why do we have to separate from our friends?' or 'I'm attached to the people in my region'. Well, I completely agree." This made a lot of eyes bulge. "I believe that if you've made friends, you should stay with them. Of course, I do expect you to go out and meet some new people when we have our fun outings tomorrow, okay?"The crowd responded with a cheer. Rogin continued. "Okay, the north region will head up to Room 578. You will be given further instructions later." Rogin handed the keys out, and the five headed up to their room."I'm so glad that Rogin let us stay with our friends!!" Kaeli exclaimed."Well, we don't really know each other, but at least we're from the same region." Quiko spoke up. "As you know by now, I'm Quiko, 5 years.""Huh?" Shawn said, confused. "You're not 5 years old!!!"Quiko gave a quick laugh. "Oops, sorry. I meant I've been playing DDR for 5 years. I'm actually 18 years old.""Hey, didn't I meet you guys at the arcades?" the Witch Doctor asked. Kaeli and Shawn nodded."Yes, of course we remember you!!!" Kaeli exclaimed. "How could we not? You really live up to your name as the Witch Doctor.""The Witch Doctor? What kind of a name is that? Hey, isn't your name David, shorty?" Jake asked.David's eye twitched slightly. "I prefer to be called the Witch Doctor, if you don't mind. And don't call me shorty! Do I look short to you?""Uh, not at all shor-uh..." Jake trailed off. The Witch Doctor started rolling his sleeves up. Jake yelped, then quickly ran up to the room, trying to slide the card key in the door."I'm just messing with you, Jake." the Witch Doctor smiled. "I may seem big and tough, but I'm not a bully.""T-that's good." Jake said.

_  
  
Very good_, Shawn thought. _I guess Jake does have some weaknesses. And now I have someone to protect me from Jake's antics_. Everyone entered the room and unpacked. Like before, the girls shared a room, and the boys shared the other.

"So, how's this whole thing been for you guys so far? It's been kinda mind boggling, but fun overall." David said, hanging some shirts up in the closet."It's been great. I've had this shorty over here to have fun with. Plus I just got a girlfriend. In fact, it's Kaeli. Isn't that cool?" Jake bragged. Shawn rolled his eyes."Wow, congrats! You're lucky, you're girlfriend's right here. Mine is back at home. She's into DDR, but just barely. I actually got her into it. She's still in Light mode, so she didn't get accepted. It was cool, we met at the arcades." David said, thinking about his girl. "Anyways, is your girlfriend into DDR, Shawn?"Shawn sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't even have one!! So you guys are lucky for just having one.""Don't worry!" Jake said. "I'm sure you'll find the right guy for you someday.""Guy?! I'm not gay!!!" Shawn exclaimed."Uh-huh, right." Jake smirked. "I saw the way you were looking at Joe Rogin in his trunks at the beach!""That's it, you're dead!" Shawn said. He jumped over the bed, trying to tackle Jake on the other side. Soon both of them were wrestling on the floor."Yah...I'm sure...you're really...enjoying this...right now..." Jake said as they continued to fight."Guys, guys, calm down!!!" David yelled. Both boys stopped. "Just forget about it!! I didn't come here to babysit!!" Shawn and Jake just looked away, ignoring each other. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. David opened it. "Oh, hi Kaeli, here to see Jake?" he asked."No, actually, I wanted to talk to Shawn." Kaeli said. Shawn exited the room, his hair and clothes slightly ruffled from the little fight. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?""Oh yah, that's right. Um, let's go somewhere else." Both of them made their way down the elevator to the lounge room, where there were some chairs and couches.Kaeli sat down on one of the couches. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?""It's about Jake..." Shawn said. He felt a little hesitant saying everything, but he knew it needed to come out. "W-what do you see in him?"Kaeli looked a little taken back, like she didn't expect Shawn to want to discuss that. "You mean, why I like him?" Shawn nodded. "Well, he's funny, for starters. I love a guy that can make me laugh. And, he's into a lot of the same things I'm into. Jake's really sweet, and plus he's really hot. I mean, what more could I want? And-""Okay, that's enough explanation." Shawn said. It really hurt him to hear her say those things...about someone else. "Well, you may think Jake's a great guy, but I've seen the other side of him."Kaeli cocked an eyebrow. "Other side?""Yes. He's constantly making fun of me. You heard what he said on the bus!! That's not the only time he's cracked a joke like that on me!! And just now, in the room he was saying I was gay!""Well, you are, aren't you?" Kaeli asked. Shawn looked like he was about to explode. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!!! See, you just need to lighten up a little bit. Maybe then Jake won't make jokes at you if he sees you're not phased by them."_Oh, thanks. That advice will solve all my problems..._ "Anyways, remember when we couldn't find Jake during the competition?" Kaeli nodded, so Shawn continued. "Well, I found him outside. And he was smoking a cigarette."Kaeli's mouth dropped. "W-what? A-are you sure it was him?""Positive. Listen, I knew something wasn't right with Jake.""Why would he do that?" Kaeli said softly. "I-I better talk to him about it." she got up from the couch."You're not gonna stay with him, are you?" Shawn asked. _Of course not, why would she?_"I-I don't know...I need to know all the details first, okay?" Kaeli asked.Shawn got up as well. "Kaeli, this guy is bad news. You're parents would never approve of you going out with a smoker. What if he got you hooked?"Kaeli looked really distressed, and they started up to the room. "He wouldn't get me smoking, okay?! I just...need to talk to him." Shawn and Kaeli got to the room.Kaeli was about to open the door, but Shawn stopped her. "Kaeli, before you talk to him, will you do one thing for me?""Uh, sure." Kaeli said.Shawn stared hard into Kaeli's eyes, making sure she remembered this phrase. "This time, listen to your head, not your heart."===================================================================Wow, this came out longer than I thought! Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I can type out the next chappie quickly. But man, it takes a lot out of me-I've got a headache!!!**Reviews:****Lithe:** You won't know if I'll listen to your secret or not until the last chappie!!**Pencil3:** Hi! Thanks for reading my fic!! Yay, more reviewers makes me happy!! I'm glad you love it.**Zanisha:** Your muse review was funny!! Yah, I guess you weren't able to come up with good qualities for Jake but Kaeli was able to!**HisLight:** I know, you get so worked up about the character's lives that you forget about the DDR competition. 


	11. A Day Without Rain

1**AN: **Hello everyone!!! Man, I finally finished this chappie. Actually, I planned to have a lot more in this chappie, but I liked my ending and I didn't want to add more. Plus I'm sure you guys want to read this chappie, and it would've taken me so long to come out with it if I wrote what I had planned. But I'll just use that stuff for the next chappie. So, this fic will probably be longer than I planned (which is a good thing for you guys)!

**Mr. Moogle:** aliasfan doesn't own DDR. In her other fic I made fun of her for not having anything to say, so this time I'll be quiet. -sshhh-**Chapter 11:A Day Without Rain**Morning came quickly and the sun spread its rays over the buildings of downtown Chicago. All of the DDR contestants woke up to a day free of worries. Today was another relaxation day. Well, relaxation for most of the people...Kaeli rifled through her drawers and luggage, throwing clothes and other objects left and right. She was her usual messy self, always scrambling to find something. But the conversation Kaeli had with Shawn was also on her mind. _Could it be true what Shawn said? I mean, why would Jake do that? But then why would Shawn lie to me if it wasn't true? He's still my best friend...Well, I'll find out soon enough_. Kaeli quickly stood up, suddenly not caring if she found what she was looking for. In fact, she didn't even remember what she was looking for.Quiko emerged into the room. "C'mon Kaeli, you gotta hurry up! The bus is going to leave without you!"_Bus?_ Kaeli thought. _Oh yes, we're going to the park today. An inexpensive but great way to have fun_. "I'm almost ready!"Kaeli searched for her hair scrunchie, but eventually just borrowed one of Quiko's. Almost all of the contestants were boarded on the bus by the time Kaeli and Quiko got on."Hey Kaeli! I saved a seat especially for you!" Shawn said, patting the seat next to him as Kaeli walked down the row. Kaeli looked around. She spotted Jake sitting in the back. He motioned to her, pointing at the empty seat by him.Kaeli thought for a moment. "I'd be glad to sit next to you Shawn." Kaeli smiled as she took a seat. "Hey Quiko, there's a seat in the back by Jake if you want.""Oh thanks!" Quiko said, heading further down the row."I...wanted to talk to you some more, Shawn. I mean, lately we've been kind of distant from each other...and I don't like the way the feels." Kaeli said, looking back at Shawn with a hint of sadness in her eyes.Shawn looked kind of shocked to hear her say that. "R-really? Me, too! I-I guess I've felt sorta left out ever since you and Jake started-""Hey Kae!" Jake exclaimed, walking up to where they were sitting. He sounded upset. "I thought you were gonna sit by me!"Kaeli's face turned a little stern. "Well, Shawn asked me first. We can hang out together later when we get to the park. Besides, I have to talk to you about something.""Uh, okay. Guess I'll see you later..." Jake said, not used to being rejected for 'shorty'."So, I guess that means you haven't talked to him about it yet." Shawn said."No, not yet. But I will today.""Kaeli...I don't want to sound like your father or anything, but I just want what's best for you. I just hope you'll make the right decision." Shawn said."I know, I will." Kaeli responded, though her voice didn't sound so reassuring."So, Kaeli, about what you were saying before..." Shawn said, a little hesitant to get back on the topic. "We _have_ been distant a lot. I think we need to change that." _Yah, this competition was a way for us to spend more time together. We were supposed to get closer, not farther away!_Kaeli perked up a bit. "We definitely need to. Okay, how about we spend all our time at the park together? I just need some time to talk to Jake, but after that, I devote all of my time to you. How does that sound?"

Shawn's smile couldn't get any bigger. "Sounds great!" he said with much enthusiasm. "Hey, Kaeli..."

"Yes?" she asked.Shawn took Kaeli's hand and held it in his. "Thanks." _Oh my goodness, why did I do that? I'm holding her hand!! Should I pull away? What if Jake sees?_ _I mean, she's still going out with him, so Jake would have a reason to beat me up!_Kaeli was a little surprised by Shawn's small showcase of affection. "Uh, no problem." A part of Kaeli wanted to pull her hand away, but something made her stay. She had this weird feeling inside. A _good _weird feeling.Shawn slowly settled down, resting in the comfort of her warmth. He slowly turned and looked out the bus window. The sun was shining brightly, and the clouds that were out were white and puffy. _I get to spend this beautiful day with Kaeli. Today is a going to be a great day. Today will be a day without rain._They sat in silence, still holding hands until the bus finally pulled to a stop. Everyone scrambled off the bus. At the park were swings, a play set, basketball courts, a field, and more.Once everyone was outside, Joe spoke. "Okay guys, here's what's going to happen. You're all free to do whatever you want. At noon, we'll hold a basketball tournament. Do not leave the park premises, and everyone must meet back here at 1:30, okay? Alright, have fun!"_Fun? Sure,_ Kaeli thought to herself. _I'm gonna have to confront Jake now. Yah, that'll be real fun! _Kaeli looked around, trying to find him in the crowd. Kaeli didn't know why, but whenever she started thinking about Jake, Shawn just pushed his way into her thoughts. _Why am I thinking more of Shawn than I am of Jake right now? And why did I have that weird feeling inside when I held Shawn's hand. Well, it wasn't a weird feeling, it actually felt kinda...good. Wait, I can't be thinking like that, I mean, he's just my friend. And anyways, I still have a boyfriend, at least for now..._"There you are!!" Jake said, running over to Kaeli. "Man, I hated not being able to sit next to you on the bus." He leaned in and kissed Kaeli on the cheek."Oh." That was all Kaeli could say. "Well, um, I'm gonna be spending my whole time at the park with Shawn.""What?!" Jake exclaimed. "You'd rather spend time with shorty than with me? I mean, who could resist this face?" Kaeli turned to look at Jake to see him making an ugly, distorted face.Kaeli laughed. "Trust me, I _could_ resist! Compared to that face you just made, I'd rather date Quasimodo!" _Wait a minute, I'm not supposed me to be having a jolly ole time with Jake! We've got some serious matters to discuss!_Jake began walking around like he had a hump on his back. "Yah, but what if-""Um, Jake. We really need to talk about something. Sorry to interrupt, but it's really important." Kaeli said abruptly.Jake cocked his head. "Okay...""Let's go under that tree." Kaeli said, pointing to a huge tree more on the left side of the large park."Sure." Jake said. He grabbed Kaeli's hand and they walked to the tree.Kaeli suddenly thought of something as she walked there. _I don't get the same feeling when I hold Jake's hand then what I did when I held Shawn's. This is confusing...Which is the best feeling? I feel something totally different when I'm with each of them. _They reached the tree and both sat down, glad to be under the tree's shade and protecting branches."So..." Jake said. "What's up?"_I wonder if he knows what's coming?_ "Well, Shawn and I are best friends, as you know. And I trust everything he says. I've known him since I was a little girl. If Shawn tells me something that he hears or...sees...then no matter how hard I try not to, I believe him." Kaeli looked up to see Jake focused intently on her so she continued, though her gaze continued to look upon the dirty ground. "Well, S-shawn, he saw you...w-well, you were..." _Oh c'mon Kaeli, just get your words out!_ "He saw you smoking...right before the competition."Jake's eyes grew a little wide then settled back down to a kind of squint, as if he was thinking about something. "You...have a problem with that?"Kaeli didn't want to offend Jake or anything, but she was concerned. And his question seemed to confirm that what Shawn saw was the truth. "Well, I just...want to make sure that you're not hurting yourself. I...don't think it's right...to smoke. It's unhealthy."Jake sighed. "Listen Kae, people have put such a stereotype on cigarettes these days. I know that if you smoke a pack a day, you're gonna die from it." Jake stood up and leaned against the tree. "I mean, I'm not that stupid! I only smoke one or two cigs a week! I need it once in a while to calm my nerves. It's just once or twice. Don't tell me that's bad!!"Kaeli thought a moment. "Well, it's not _that_ bad...but still...I wouldn't want to smell it on you. And...what would my parents think? It's just that, I don't think I could go out with-""Kaeli, you're thinking too hard!" Jake exclaimed. He pulled Kaeli up and made her look him in the eyes. "Listen, I can't believe you would want to end this relationship. I want this to work out. And I care about you so much, that I'm willing to quit...just for you."Kaeli's mouth dropped. "Are you serious? I mean, I thought that maybe it would be too hard for you...""I told you, I barely smoke. Obviously I don't or else there's no way I could be in this competition. So it wouldn't be hard for me to quit if I hardly smoke in the first place, right?" Jake explained."I guess you're right." Kaeli responded. "I...didn't think you would do that for me. And, I didn't really know the whole situation. I mean, that's why I wanted to talk to you.""Kaeli, I care about you. Cigarettes shouldn't come between us, and it won't. I like you a lot." Jake smiled. "And there's no way I'm going to turn up the most beautiful girl in the world."Kaeli blushed. "Aww, you're just saying that...""No, I really mean it. Ever since I first met you Kae, I knew that you were different than most girls. You're really special." Jake pulled Kaeli in and held her tightly. "Kaeli, I only want to be with you..." Jake leaned in for a kiss._Oh my goodness, he's gonna kiss me on the lips for the first time! Should I kiss him back? Well, I have no doubt in my mind that he'll keep his promise. He truly cares for me..._Kaeli leaned in too, and passionately returned his affection.A small distance away, behind another tree, stood a saddened soul: Shawn. _I guess my second chance was a bust. I guess Kaeli really does care for this jerk... _Shawn stared at the two teens, but he turned away, too hurt to see Kaeli kissing another guy. But as soon as he did he looked back. Shawn was a desperate soul, looking for love, not looking for heartbreak.He turned his attention from Kaeli to Jake. _There he is, holding her close to him, making out with her..._ Shawn pictured what he himself looked liked in his mind, then brought the image of himself down to where Jake stood. He saw it like it was him standing there, holding Kaeli, kissing her, and all he could do was imagine how it would feel. He imagined what it would be like to finally know that you're loved.

_"What I have shown you is reality. What you remember...is illusion." _

That is a quote from FF7. Sephiroth (shudder) said it. I haven't played the game, but I saw the quote and liked it. I have many other quotes that I might use later on, along with some songs and poems.

**Reviews:**

**Zanisha:** Kaeli did stay with Jake, but she could've dumped him. I know that there was 5 more chappies left, but there's still the competition that I need to write about! Hmmm...a slow and painful death for Jake? Sounds like a plan...

**HisLight:** Mr. Moogle will not be getting a Mrs. Moogle in the near future. He still needs to live up to his duties as the disclaimer king. Uh yah, someone's a little too hyper when they review! -points to you-

**Pencil3:** Jerky Jake...hey, I like that nickname (lol).

**Lyphe:** Hey, I'm slow. I just realized that you changed your name back. Yay!!!

**ZimXGir:** Glad you liked that chappie. Could it be your favorite 'cause it was the longest one? (lol)Yes, well I tried to add a little more fluff to this chappie, but it's hard when Shawn and Kaeli aren't going out. But hopefully I did a good job.

**Mr. Moogle:** Good job? That holding hands scene was so cheap!

**aliasfan:** HEY! You said you were gonna shut up!!

**Mr. Moogle:** "..." -uses sign language to spell out 'Please review'-

**aliasfan:** Does that count? o.O


	12. Sure As Rain, Sure As Sun

**AN:** IT'S FINALLY UP!!! Yes, it seems like I updated such a long time ago! Well, it has been a long time. But even though I still can't upload my documents at home, I am doing it at school. Wow, school is actually useful for something! Well, as you know, or maybe don't know if you haven't read my profile, this story and End This Requiem will be my final fanfics (at least for a while). Homework and after-school activities have been a little much for me. Plus I have to start applying for colleges, which is a big process of writing essays and such. But even if I decide not to write anymore, I will still read fics (or at least finish the ones I am reading).

For some reason I am kinda losing my interest in my two fics. Some days I just want to post a chappie for DDR elite where there's a bombing in the hotel that the contestants are staying at so everyone dies. Yes, I know, that's evil. And then sometimes I just want to leave my fics alone and never update them again. It's sad, but it's the truth. But I am not like that. I was mad at other people when they stopped their fics, so I will not be the person to do that. I will continue to write my stories as planned until they are finished. This fic has a while to go, but ETR is closer to the end (plus the chappies are shorter too). Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy this long-awaited chappie. I will try to get the next one up as fast as I can!!

**Mr. Moogle:** Hi everyone! Wow, it's been a while since I talked to any of you. I hope everyone is doing well. Oh yes, and Holly does not own anything that is DDR, although she does have DDR Extreme, which Heather (her twin sis) got for a birthday present. Did she mention that her birthday was on October 12th? Wow, 17 already....so old...I can almost see the gray hairs...

**Aliasfan:** Old?! Who are you calling old?! You're the one who's been in all those Final Fantasies since the beginning of time!!

**Mr. Moogle:** Heh heh, on with the story!! BTW, since it's been such a long time since you've read this fic, you may want to skim over the last chappie so you can remember what's going on! Also, this chappie is really short. I wanted to make it longer, but I really didn't want to keep you waiting with this fic, so I decided to post it early. Hope you don't mind.

**Chapter 12:** **Sure As Rain, Sure As Sun**

Shawn tore his eyes away from the sight. _Why...why does this have to happen to me?_ Shawn ran as fast as he could, eventually finding his way to the swings. "I haven't been on these in ages..." Shawn ran his fingers along the chains and rubber seat. _Maybe this will help me take my mind off...them..._

Shawn started swinging, at first awkwardly. It seemed he had almost forgotten how to swing, but he soon got the hang of it. _I can forget about her...I don't need her..._

_I will know, who's the one_

_Sure as rain, sure as sun_

'_Til the day, hope is gone_

_I will keep holding on_

_I've been thinkin' 'bout our situation_

_It's not what I want_

_If you can't get what you're givin'_

_You've got to be movin' on_

_But I've got no hard feelings_

_Just a heart that needs healing_

It takes time, but I'll find another road 

"There you are!!" a voice suddenly broke Shawn's thoughts.

Shawn stopped swinging as he snapped back to the real world. "Kaeli..."

"I've been looking all over for you! Don't you remember? We're supposed to hang out together for the whole time that we're at the park!" Kaeli said, smiling.

_Oh great_, Shawn thought. _How can I keep my mind off of Kaeli if she's right here? How can I keep my eyes off her?_ "Oh, yah, I remember..." He was about to say something about her and Jake staying together but he couldn't let on that he has spied on them.

"So, can I swing?" Kaeli said, tapping her foot and pointing to a swing.

"Sure, as long as Jake doesn't come."

Kaeli sat in a swing and started swaying, appearing to reminisce just as Shawn had. "Oh, I told him he'd have to do something else while we're at the park. Uh, speaking of Jake-"

"Lemme guess, you're still together, right?"

Kaeli made a face as if she knew he wouldn't like the answer. "Well...yah..."

"Kaeli, why do you do this to yourself?! I thought you don't go out with smokers?" Shawn exclaimed. He didn't want to sound to harsh on Kaeli, but she was getting him really mad.

"I don't." Kaeli responded. "Jake said he's gonna quit for me."

"Pfft! And you actually believed him?!! C'mon, Kaeli, you're smarter than that!"

Kaeli stopped swinging, slowly losing momentum. "What?! Shawn, I am smart. Jake is telling the truth, I know it!"

"Yah, sure." Shawn said sarcastically. "Kaeli, I'm telling you, there's something wrong with Jake. I just don't want you to get hurt in the end."

Kaeli shook her head. "You know what? I think you're just jealous."

"What?!" Shawn exclaimed. Even though it was true, that wasn't necessarily why he wanted them to break up.

"That's right. I'm spending so much time with Jake that you'll make up any lie about him just so I'd spend more time with you! You don't want me to be happy!"

I do want you to be happy!" Shawn yelled, standing up. "But if being with Jake makes you happy, then I hope you're miserable!!" Shawn stormed off, leaving Kaeli alone on the swings. _It doesn't matter where I go or what I do, just as long as I'm not with you..._

I don't know where I'm going but I'm going and I'll know it when I get there 

_Can't wait another minute 'cause you're heart just isn't in it and it's not fair_

I don't know how I'll make it so I guess I'm gonna fake it 'til I'm somewhere 

_I don't know where I'm going but I'm going and I'll know it when I get there_

From a distance were a pair of eyes, both intensely watching the scene as it unfurled. A small grin began to form across the shadow-hidden face. "Better luck next time...shorty..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See, told ya it was short! But I hoped you liked it. Well, maybe you didn't like it since Kaeli and Shawn got into a fight. Sounds like bad news! Well, here's some good news, I got some more R&Rers, yay! Thanks everyone!

****


	13. Alone Again

**AN: **Okay you guys. This is good news! I got the new hard drive for my computer, so now I can update!! My computer moves a lot faster now that the virus is gone. ish happy Well, this chappie turned out okay for me. I will try to get the next chappie out as soon as possible. Believe me, I'll be faster than I was getting this one out! I hope you like it!

**Mr. Moogle: **Hello everyone! I haven't talked to you guys in a long time. Aliasfan still doesn't own DDR, but she is the co-president of the DDR club at her school. Aliasfan is very excited today because her favorite show, Alias, is starting its new season!

**Aliasfan: -**excited-

**Mr. Moogle: **One more thing before I let you read this chappie. The poem in here was written by Nick Conrady (penname on is Lorrelion). In fact, this title's chappie is the name of his poem. I highly recommend you read his poems, they are mah-vuh-lous!

**Aliasfan: **You mean marvelous? Anyways, on with the show!

**Chapter 13: Alone Again**

_A relationship…that's all I wanted with her, _Shawn thought as he ran in the park. _And now…now I won't even have a friendship with her! It's all my fault. I got her mad, and now she hates me. Kaeli's never going to want to speak to me again!_

_Alone again._

_This is no surprise to me,_

_For hour upon hour, for all my life I have been alone,_

_I've never so much as known that which is called love,_

_Not the slightest kiss,_

_Or embrace!_

_Not once!_

Shawn stopped running when he got to the jungle gym. He grabbed one of the metal bars, which was cool to the touch even though it was summer. He breathed heavily as he tried to catch his breath. Shawn was surprised when he found that he could still fit through the open cubes of the jungle gym. He climbed his way to the center but stayed at the bottom.

_Why does no woman love me?_

_Why does nobody love me?_

_People rejoice all around me,_

_No one cares about my problems,_

_My wants!_

_My needs!_

_I've no reason to jump for joy,_

_Why should I?_

_Not while I know that none would shed a tear for me!_

_Is there something wrong with me?_

_Is that it?_

_This jungle gym is like all the problems I've been having in my life. I can get so caught up in all its tangles. I wonder if I'll ever be able to find my way out…_

_I've spend far too many years searching and waiting,_

_To so far have not succeeded at least once!_

_Once that is all I ask!_

_Just once!_

_Why must everyone else around me find victory,_

_While I suffer defeat after defeat?_

_-------_

Two figures sat on the swings, swaying back and forth in the breeze. "So, what's gonna happen with you two?"

"I don't know. Ever since we got to the competition he's…changed…and I don't know why."

"Are you gonna drop him, just like that?"

"No! No, of course not! He's still my friend! We just…had a little fight…that's all. An argument really. We need time to be away from each other for a while. I know it'll be hard, but it's the best thing for us right now."

"Sounds good to me. Hey, do you…wanna go for a walk?"

"…Sure…"

Shawn was still on the jungle gym, but he had since climbed to the very top. He allowed the cool wind to beat against his face. He closed his eyes, wanting to hear all the sound the world had to offer him. As he listened intently, he heard…nothing.

_What? This is the park! Where is the laughter of the children? Where are the songs of the birds? They're not here anymore. Where are they, you ask? They've gone away just like the beating of my heart, to a dark and miserable place. But for me, any place is better than here right now. But my beating heart is gone. For if someone put their ear upon my chest, they'd hear nothing! _Shawn still kept his eyes closed as he continued to think to himself.

_Buh-bump_

_Buh-bump_

_What is this? Is my heart still there? I thought I lost it the moment Kaeli told me that she liked Jake._

"Ha ha! You're so funny!"

"Yah, I know, 'cause I got mad skill!"

_Now what is it? Have the children come back along with my heart? Has their laughter returned?_

"Mmhhmm..no, no not here!" A giggle.

"C'mon, you know you want to!"

_No, the laughter hasn't returned, but the children have. They can't grow up. They don't have the decency to get a room._

_Most of them don't even deserve it!_

_Yet these brats abuse those who care for them,_

_And flaunt their 'love' in my face!_

_I am sick of it!_

_I AM UTTERLY SICK OF IT!_

Their voices got fainter and fainter as the couple continued to walk on, past the jungle gym to the basketball courts for the game. Shawn waited a couple more minutes before he opened his eyes. But as he did, his eyes got watery, and he couldn't hold back the tears.

_It's so damn hard to be alone!_

_But it's not like I haven't tried,_

_I've even chased around the same girl for two years,_

_Only to give up and lose._

_Yep, I'm awesome._

_LOOK AT ME WORLD!_

_Look at what you've done to me! _

_This pitiful state you reduced me to!_

_I hate this feeling with everything I am!_

_This just isn't fair! Yah, I know, life isn't fair, I just wish it would be nice to me once in a while._

_I just wish someone out there would hold me, _

_And tell me they love me!_

_Just once!_

_Alas, I am all alone again!_

_And it feels like forever!_

_A forever in Hell-_

_-------_

"-o!" greeted Shawn as he looked in the mirror. "Do I know you? Oh right, you're that loser…" The contestants had just gotten back from the park, and everyone headed back to their rooms. Shawn was never happier to see a bathroom in his life. As soon as the bus stopped at the hotel, he rushed inside, ran to his room, and locked himself in the bathroom. "In about an hour you'll be competing in the State competition. Can you handle it?" he asked himself.

"Answer me!" Shawn yelled, then sighed. "Maybe a shower will calm me down." He slowly trudged over to the bathtub and turned the water on so it could start filling up. "No, a bath sounds much better."

He began taking of his clothes, but very slowly. He unbuttoned each button carefully. He examined his body as he did so. It wasn't that Shawn wasn't good-looking or that he was fat. DDR had helped keep him in shape. But Shawn felt ugly on the outside.

_What's wrong with me? Someone…please tell me…_

He stepped into the tub, the warm water starting to relax his tense body. But his thoughts turned again to Kaeli and Jake.

_Jake…he gets to feel her tender lips, the ones I've always wanted to kiss…He gets to have her tender touch, the one I've always wanted to feel…He gets to listen to the sweet words she says, the ones I've always wanted to hear…_

_I asked you before…_

_WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!!_

Shawn grabbed at his skin. I want to rip off my old self and put on a new one…one that is worthy of Kae's love…He continued to beat upon himself until bruises appeared. Shawn finished washing up then got out of the tub. Once again, he stared at himself in the mirror, but with some new changes.

"What have you done to yourself?"

_I just wish someone out there would hold me, _

_And tell me they love me!_

_Just once!_

_Alas, I am all alone again!_

_And it feels like forever!_

_A forever in Hell!_

Okay! That's the end of it. Eh, not really good right? I promise the next chappie will be really good! I mean, it's the state competition, so of course it's gonna be good and exciting! I can't wait to write it!

**Reviews (12):**

**Ninja shadow: **Heh, well, I guess you'll be thanking me for updating again.

**LoNeLyRaCeR: **Thanks!

**Lyphe:** It's okay, I've been really busy (as you can tell) so I'm always late on reviewing too. I don't mind at all. I don't feel old. Everyone thinks my sister and I are either a freshman or sophomore, not a senior, so they make me feel little.

**Trisk:** Yes, um, very interesting. I don't think that'll happen anytime soon…or will it? XD

**SaeSawanoguchi: **I'm glad I made you feel that way! And thanks for making me feel good by saying such nice words!

**SukiLovesAnime14: **I will try my hardest to update sooner!!

**Zanisha: **Thanks for the compliments! I feel special. Yes, school has been taking up SOOO much of my time! Hopefully we can all survive. anxiously awaits June 9th-my day of freedom!

**Pencil3: **Yes, Kaeli is quite stupid. People are always saying "Jake's a jerk" or "Kill Jake". It's amusing, really. Lol Don't worry, I will not abandon this fic! You have my word.

**Xlilxcherrixgrlx: **Sorry this chappie's late. Glad you like this story.

**ZimXGir: **A love quarrel…yes in a way it was-except Kaeli didn't realize it. XD No, hyperness is good.

**Raven's Wolf: **Heh heh, yet again another person saying "Kill Jake!" I'm so sorry I wasn't able to update on Monday, but my computer and internet are working now (except now I need to reinstall Microsoft Word). I will try to get chapter 14 out as soon as possible. But I want to make it a nice, long chappie, since this one was so bad and short. Thanks so much for all your reviews! -huggles-

**Suits92: **Hey, thanks for R&Ring! Lol, there another person goes wanting to kill Jake again!

Thanks everyone for being so patient! -huggles to all-


	14. The State Competition

**AN: **Can you believe it?! I'm actually updating this 4 days after the last update! I'm so proud of myself for writing in this over the weekend. Well, I hope this quick update makes you all happy. Ooh, lookie, 11 pages for my lovely reviewers!

**Mr. Moogle: **Wow, this update must be a miracle! And it would be a miracle if aliasfan owned DDR, but she doesn't. She does not own any of the DDR songs used here too. Alright, on to the competition!

**Chapter 14: The State Competition**

Shawn's roommates, including The Witch Doctor, Kaeli, and Jake, were already downstairs in the lobby, waiting for Round Two of the State competition to begin. In Round One, the fourteen contestants competed against each other two on two, leaving six winners (two people failed).

In Round Two the six would compete until three were left, the three that would move on to the National competition. They gave them a break between rounds, so Shawn went back upstairs to the bathroom, while everyone else stayed downstairs for a break. The six people who were left were David, Abby, Jake, Shawn, Kaeli, and Bryson.

"Man, did you see that slam dunk I made at the basketball courts?" Jake said. "We sucked the other team dry, didn't we David?"

The Witch Doctor laughed, slapping hands with Jake. "Oh yah, we totally creamed them! Hey, and I bet I'll cream you guys during this competition, too."

Jake smoothed back her hair. "Well, I hope I do!" The group continued to talk, seeing as there were still 10 minutes until Round Two of the state competition began. It took Shawn a while, but he finally came out of the bathroom and down to meet his other roommates.

Kaeli's eyes looked away as she saw Shawn approaching their group. _Oh no…what do I say to him? Does he hate me for what I said before? Will I say something that will upset him today?_

Jake laughed at a joke The Witch Doctor had made but stopped when he saw Kaeli's nervous expression. He gently rested his hand on her shoulder. "Baby, everything's gonna be okay. Just tell him what you told me this afternoon. You guys are still friends, you just need some time to breathe, that's all."

Kaeli's face perked up with a little more confidence. "You're right. After all, he could be thinking the very same thing about me!"

Shawn finally reached the group, but he stood as far away from Kaeli as possible. _What should I tell her? What is she gonna do to me? _Shawn didn't get to finish his thoughts as Kaeli grabbed his arm and led him to one of the seating areas. _Oh no…now I'm gonna get it from her…_

The couch they sat on made the situation only a little more comfortable. Kaeli tried to speak calmly. "Shawn, before you say anything, I want you to listen." Shawn nodded his head in agreement, so she continued on. "I'm so sorry for what happened today. I didn't mean what I said, I was just angry. I guess I expect you to agree with everything I say and do, and I know that's not fair to you." Kaeli paused to see how Shawn was responding to all that.

Shawn was looking down at his feet. _She's…apologizing? Wow…this girl must have eaten humble pie!_ Shawn looked up when Kaeli stopped talking. "Are you letting me talk-"

"No, I still have more to say." Kaeli sighed. She thought back to those days when they'd spend all their time together, training for the DDR competition. _I want those times back. I want us to stay friends and have fun like the good old days._

_---Those times are gone. You will never see a day like that again.---_

_What?_ Kaeli thought. _Did I just hear someone say something?_

"Kaeli, can I talk now?" Shawn asked, a worried expression on his face as he stared back at the zoned out Kaeli.

"Huh? No, I'm still talking." Kaeli said.

"Attention all DDR contestants! Round Two of the state competition will begin in 5 minutes. Please report to the lobby immediately. I repeat, all DDR contestants report to the lobby immediately." The intercom buzzed.

"Wow…so this is it. This is yet another day we've been waiting for, huh Shawn?" Kaeli said softly.

"Yes…"

"Shawn, I want you to know that I'm not mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong, you were just looking out for me-exactly what a friend should do. I just…" It hurt Kaeli to have to tell Shawn, but she knew it had to be said. "I just think we need to be apart from each other for a little while. I know it'll be hard, but I think it's the best thing for us right now."

Shawn felt like he was going to cry, but he didn't. "Kaeli, I'm glad you're not mad at me. I'm…not mad at you either. If you…want us to be away from each other for a while…then that's what we'll do. Basically you need some time to breathe?"

"Hey, that's exactly what Jake said."

Shawn lowered his head and looked down at the mention of Jake's name.

Kaeli saw it. "Shawn? I…I know that we will always be friends."

_---Those times are gone---_

"I want you to have this." Kaeli reached down one of her socks and pulled out an item. She grasped it in her hands carefully. "It's sorta like my good luck charm." Shawn opened his hands as she dropped it into his. There lay a crumpled package of Kool-aid, it's sugary contents long dissolved in water and digested.

Shawn smiled and laughed as he lifted up the Strawberry Kool-aid package. "Heh, there you go with your addiction. What are you gonna do now? Pull a package of Doritos outta your pants?"

Kaeli laughed and playfully pushed Shawn. "No, silly! I kept this package for a reason. I drank that Kool-aid the day we found out we got accepted into this competition. I want you to have it. Think of it as a symbol of our friendship."

_---You will never see a day like that again.---_

A permanent smile was plastered on Shawn's face. _We're still…friends…_ "Kaeli...thank you. I know how much your sugary high means to you." He laughed again then pulled Kaeli into a hug. "Thank you…"

Kaeli tightly hugged him back. _You deserve it…_

"Attention all DDR contestants, the DDR elite State competition Round Two will now begin! Everyone please make your way to the center as we call the first two competitors!" Rogin announced.

Shawn's eyes grew wide. "The competition! I almost forgot!"

"Me too!" Kaeli was now worried again, but this time it was because of the competition. Since the playing field was smaller, she might have to go up against Shawn or Jake, which wouldn't be good news. "Good luck, Shawn."

"Nah, I don't need the luck. I've got your Kool-aid." Shawn tucked the package into his sock then he and Kaeli started quickly to the center of the lobby. "Kaeli…good luck to you too." They met back up with David and Jake. Jake gave a quick glance to Shawn, then turned around again to hear the announcement.

Joe Rogin began. "Alright, I know everyone's anxious to find out what's going to happen in Round Two, so I won't waste another minute. The rules today apply just as they did in Round One. If you fail, you automatically are disqualified. If both contestants pass, we go by the grade. If the grades are the same, the person with the highest numbered score will move on. We will continue this until there are only 3 contestants left. Those three will then move on to the National Competition."

The other two contestants, Abby and Bryson, were talking to each other, but soon it turned to silence as Rogin began to call the two contestants. "The first two competitors of today are…Abby and Kaeli! Please make your way to the DDR machine!"

"Kaeli! It's you! You're first!" David exclaimed.

Kaeli wasn't too excited. "First? I don't want to go first!"

"At least you weren't up against one of us." Jake said.

"Kaeli…" Shawn called to her. "I believe in you. You'll do just fine."

Kaeli looked into Shawn's eyes, finding comfort in his blue, swirling oceans. "You're right. Thanks." She quickly walked to the front.

Kaeli tried to remember Shawn's words as she stared at her competition, but it was hard to find her confidence when she did. Abby sounded like a sweet little girl, short and nice. Well, not this Abby. This Abby looked tough and mean. She was tall and skinny but had some muscle to her. She looked about 18 years old. She wore thick black gloves that were cut at the fingertips. Her pants were black and ripped at the knees. Her shirt was a red tank top with the words 'Get Bent' on it. Her hair was black and up in a ponytail, but a few loose strands found their way down her face. Let's just say she was nothing less than menacing.

"Uh, hi." Kaeli said, trying to make conversation. "Um…it's nice to finally meet some real competition."

Abby glared down at Kaeli. "Too bad I can't say the same for me."

Kaeli scoffed, but decided not to make a comeback. _I want to stay in one piece…_

Rogin pressed the roulette button on the machine to pick what Heavy level song they'd have. "You two ladies will be dancing to…Can't Stop Fallin' In Love: Speed Mix! Get on your pads and get ready!"

_Speed mix? I've only played the regular version. Now it's gonna be faster and harder?_

"_I believe in you. You'll do just fine."_

_Yes, I will. Speed mix? I can take it. I've moved faster when I've been on a sugar high! _Kaeli smiled as the machine lit up and the song came up on the screen. All three of her roommates had found their way to the front of the room so they could watch. They cheered her on as the music began. Everyone had their eyes fixed on the two dancers, drowning out everything around them. The lyrics to the song could clearly be heard, though no one was listening to them at the time.

_My life meant nothing to me_

_Then a guy like you came along_

_Everything's moving so fast_

_I gotta get my feet on the ground_

_I'm happy, days are over_

_Cause I can always be with you_

_Lying in your arms, babe_

_Ah they make me feel all so brand new_

_Can't stop falling in love_

_Tell me you will be true_

_Forever baby_

_I just can't stop dreaming of you_

_Every day, every way_

Kaeli and Abby were both dancing extremely well. Their feet hit the pads with timely precision, their eyes intensely focused on the moving arrows on the screen.

Say you love me baby Say you will always be mine 

_You'll never break my heart (no)_

Shawn glanced at Abby's side of the screen. She was getting a lot of perfects and greats. Then he glanced at Kaeli's side of the screen. She was also getting perfects and greats, but also a few goods here and there. Everyone could tell that it was going to be a close match. Both girls continued to move at rapid tempo until the song ended.

_I just can't stop falling in love_

_Baby you'll be kidding_

_Making love with you_

_Is all I wanna do (wanna do)_

_Can't stop falling in love_

_Give you heart and soul_

_Stay with me this time_

_And we'll be history-you and me_

Rogin turned his microphone back on. "Wow, this was quite an exciting dance we had there! It's going to be very close…but let's see how their grades turned out."

Kaeli breathed heavily, sweat dripping down her face. She was so tired that she leaned on the bar for support. She glanced over at Abby, who was standing tall, appearing to not even have broken a sweat.

Rogin continued. "Abby received an 'A'…and Kaeli receieved…an 'A' as well! I guess it all comes down to their score!" It seemed like the whole room held their breath. Everyone was anxious to see the outcome of the first dance.

Shawn closed his eyes tightly, praying that Kaeli beat her. _Please…_

"Abby's score is 1, 765, 384…and Kaeli's score is…1, 786, 005, which means that Kaeli is our winner!! She's the first contestant who will be moving on to the National competition! Let's give a round of applause to both girls here." Rogin announced. The crowd went wild as they cheered.

Kaeli felt like she was in a dream. She just couldn't believe that she had beaten Abby, let alone got an 'A' dancing to the Speed Mix. A huge smile appeared on her face. She turned around, only to be bombarded with hugs and pats on the back from her friends.

"You did it Kaeli!! You did it!! I knew you could!" Shawn exclaimed, giving Kaeli a hug.

"And I beat her without my Kool-aid too." Kaeli said proudly.

"Congratulations, babe!" Jake said, pulling Kaeli into a kiss. "That's my girl!"

Kaeli giggled, "Yep!"

"Hey!" a voice said. Everyone turned around to see who it was.

"Uh oh…" Kaeli said to herself. "Uh…hi Abby. You did really good-"

"No need to say anything to try to make me feel better. I just wanted to say congrats and good luck in the next round. I should be getting home anyways, my parents will be wondering where I am." Abby didn't wait for a reply as she walked away.

"Um…okay…" Kaeli said. "I'm a little weirded out right now."

"Okay, the next two competitors will be…" Rogin began.

_Oh no…please don't let me go against Jake…dear God…no…_ Shawn cried silently.

"…David and Bryson! Which means, Shawn and Jake will dance against each other in the final match of the State competition!"

"nnnNNNOOOOoooo!!!" Shawn screamed, not realizing that he did so out loud. While everyone stared at him he cleared his throat and looked away. "Heh…"

"What's wrong, shorty? Afraid you're gonna lose to me?" Jake laughed, walking up to Shawn.

Shawn put his game face on. "Of course not."

Jake moved closer to Shawn, lowering his voice but strengthening his tone. "Well, you should be. 'Cause when I get through with you, you won't be able to tell your head from your a-"

Kaeli walked up to the two. "Hey, what's going on?"

Jake stumbled as she interrupted him. "A-Animal crackers in my soup! Monkeys and rabbits loop dee loop!"

"Why are you singing that song?" Kaeli laughed.

"He wasn't. Right before you came here he was threatening me." Shawn said, folding his arms.

Kaeli's eyes grew wide. "Jake, how could you do that?! I know he's your competitor but he's my friend too!"

"It was just some traditional competitor's words. No biggie." Jake said. He walked up to Kaeli, running his fingers through his hair. "So, who do you want to win?"

"W-what? What did you say?" Kaeli couldn't believe Jake would ask her that.

"Who do you want to move on with, me or Shawn?" Jake asked, smiling. "I wonder who you'd pick…"

"So do I…" Shawn said. He was very interested in knowing who came first in her life-her friend or her boyfriend.

Kaeli scoffed. "This is so unfair! I can't believe you're making me choose! You know I can't do that!!"

"David has a 'B', and Bryson has an 'A'…which makes Bryson the second contestant moving on!" Rogin announced.

"Oh my goodness! I feel so bad…all this time we were talking and we didn't even cheer The Witch Doctor on!" Kaeli exclaimed. David slowly walked up to the group with his head down. "I'm so sorry, David!"

"It's okay. It's not your fault. I did my best…but it just wasn't good enough. I'll try again next year." David said, seeming sad but not too upset. Kaeli gave him one last hug before he left.

The intercom continued. "Alright…this is it! The final dance off had arrived! Shawn and Jake, please make your way to the DDR machine."

As the roulette spinned to choose a song, Kaeli couldn't help but wonder who she _would _want to go through to the next competition with. _Jake is my boyfriend. If he's not with me, I'd definitely be sad. But Shawn's my friend, and I wouldn't want to do this without him either…Man, I'm so confused…But…I've known Shawn longer…so I guess I'd want him to go on. But how can I say I don't want Jake with me too? _Kaeli sighed. _Well, it can't be both of them…_

"The song is…Against All Odds! Contestants…get ready!!"

"This is it…are you ready?" Jake asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Shawn said confidently. _I've got Kaeli's good luck charm, plus it can't be too hard dancing against this walking, talking cancer stick…_

Kaeli clapped her hands together. "Good luck…both of you!!" The arrows appeared, quickly filling up the screen. Jake and Shawn were left making combos left and right.

_How can you just walk away from me_

_When all I can do is watch you leave_

_'Cause we shared the laughter and the pain_

_And even shared the tears_

_You're the only one_

_Who really knew me at all_

The lyrics of Phil Collin's song, turned in to a DDR song, lingered in the air. Shawn was surprised that he could concentrate on both the arrows and the lyrics. The music helped keep him in beat, so he guessed that was why we could hear them. They seemed to remind him a little bit of Kaeli.

_So take a look at me now_

_Well there's just an empty space_

_And you coming back to me is against all odds_

_and that's what I've got to face_

_I wish I could just make you turn around_

_Turn around, and see me cry_

_There's so much I need to say to you_

_So many reasons why_

_You're the only one_

_Who really knew me at all_

The dancing was intense. Kaeli wanted to look and see who was doing better, but she couldn't bear to look. She just stood there, with her eyes shut tightly, listening to the sound of shoes hitting the arrows on the metal pads. _Oh God…what is going to happen?_

They continued to dance, both bodies seeming to move in perfect harmony. Kaeli kept her eyes closed, but she wanted to open them when she heard someone misstep. _Who was it? Who stumbled?_ Kaeli could tell that it threw one of them off beat, because she heard a few more mess-ups. _I can't look…I just can't…_

_So take a look at me now,_

_Well there's just an empty space_

_And there's nothing left here to remind me_

_Just the memory of your face_

_Take a good look at me now_

_'Cause I feel you standing here_

_And you coming back to me is against all odds_

_It's the chance I've got to take_

The song ended quickly. It seemed to go by in just a matter of moments. Kaeli still kept her eyes closed, the lyrics still lingering in her mind.

_So take a look at me now_

Kaeli shook her head. _I don't want to look…_

Rogin looked at the screen. "Alright then! Jake received a 'B'…and Shawn got…"

_It's the chance I've got to take_

"…a 'C'. Congratulations Jake, you are our third and final winner of the state competition!!"

Kaeli couldn't help it…she opened her eyes, but when they did, tears spilled out. She couldn't keep them in. _What are these tears for? They're a mixture of happiness for Jake and sadness for Shawn…_"Oh Shawn!" Kaeli wailed, hugging Shawn tightly. "I'm so sorry!"

The expression on Shawn's face was one of pain and anguish. Not only did he lose the competition, he'd be away from Kaeli for as long as she's in the competition, and now she'd also be left alone with Jake. Shawn wanted to cry so badly, but not in front of Kaeli. He had to be strong for her. "Shhh…shhh…it's okay. Listen, I'll be fine, really."

Kaeli sniffled as she lifted her eyes to meet Shawn's. "But…"

"But what? At least you made it through, right? That's all that matters."

Kaeli wiped her tears. She stood back, staring at Shawn.

_Take a good look at me now_

"Kaeli, remember what you told me before?" Shawn asked. Kaeli shook her head no. "Well, you told me that you thought we needed to be apart from each other for a little while. I guess you're getting what you wanted…"

"No!" Kaeli exclaimed. "I didn't want it like this though! I can't do this without you…"

Shawn pulled Kaeli into another hug. He could feel Jake's eyes burning into his, but he ignored them. "You're strong. I know you can do this. I remember you also said that you knew it'd be hard, but that it would be the best thing for us right now. So, this was meant to happen. You were meant to go on without me." Shawn's thoughts turned back to Jake. I know he's gonna try something on Kaeli. I have to make sure Kaeli will be okay. He'll be alone with her…but…

_It's the chance I've got to take_

_-------_

**Reviews (8):**

**Zanisha: **That is so cute! Yah, I should put Kaeli and Shawn in my list of pairings too. I hope you are feeling better. Ugh, I couldn't imagine being so miserable! Yah, this is my favorite story too, not that End This Requiem is bad or anything, but I just like DDR elite more.

**Raven's Wolf: **Look, such a quick update!! Aren't you proud of me? Yah, Shawn's just going through a rough time right now.

**Suits92: **Yah, that's why I didn't like the last chappie, 'cause it was all about emotion. But I really liked this update because this chappie had a lot of action, so I hope you liked it!

**ZimXGir: **Everyone loves Shawn and everyone hates Jake. Lol I have yet to find someone who loves evilness. –attempts but fails to pry your hands off of Shawn- XD

**Lady Hitokiri: **Yay, another update! I'm glad you liked it. You're my editor.

**Pencil3: **Well, it looks like things didn't get better for Shawn. But they will…just not now…Thanks for the compliments. I'm pretty sure this is soon enough for ya!

**Krikitt: **Well, it's nice to know I've got another reviewer! Thanks!

**Randy (for Ch.1): **I hope you get the chance to read more chappies. I'm glad you love it. Doesn't DDR rule?! :)

Well, that's it for now. I don't know when the next update will be. I'm always busy during the week, so I'll probably write the chappies during break (though I still need to write chappies for my other story, so I'll probably switch on and off between updating them).


	15. Yes or No?

**AN: **Sorry I haven't updated in ages! I was so busy with West Side Story practices. But we performed last week. It went well, but I'm sad because now it's over. T.T Well, it's a good thing too because now I'll have more time to write in my fics. I wrote almost all of this during school when I wasn't working. Good to know school's good for something. XD

**Mr. Moogle: **aliasfan doesn't own DDR. She doesn't own any of the songs or products used in this fic either. She also altered some of the lines in the songs so it could fit with the story. .'

**BTW: **This fic is going to be ending soon. It'll probably only be a couple more chappies. -tear-

**Chapter 15: Yes or No?**

"So…this is it?" Kaeli asked, her head hung down low. She lifted her eyes to see Shawn put the last piece of luggage into the taxi's trunk.

Shawn wiped his hands on his pants, trying to get rid of all the sweat he had. "I guess so…" Shawn looked into Kaeli's eyes. _She seems…sad, upset, maybe a bit scared…but why? I know I'm her friend but…no…she doesn't have feelings for me that way. I just need to accept that and move on with my crummy life. _"Why is it so hot outside?" Shawn asked, making an excuse for sweating when it was really because he was nervous. _Nervous? Nervous to say…goodbye…_Shawn rolled up his sleeves.

"Well, it _is _summer, ya know!" Kaeli laughed. The cool night air blew lightly as the city lights glimmered.

"You'll call me, right?" Shawn asked, a faint puppy dog look on his face.

"As soon as I get to the hotel." She smiled. "New York, can you believe it! I'm going to New York! And the competition's gonna be shown on t.v., so you can see me win!" Kaeli joked. She stopped laughing when she saw the strange marks and bruises on Shawn's arms. "Hey, what happened to you?"

Kaeli reached for Shawn's arms but he pulled them away, lowering his sleeves to cover them. "Uh…too much roughhousing this morning at the park. You don't know how brutal guys can get to win a basketball game." Shawn chuckled. _Hmm…better think of something to change the subject. _"I'll be sure to watch you on t.v. I'll be rooting for you of course! Since I'll be gone I just want to make sure you take care of yourself. You never know what could happen. These days…"

"I know, I know. Shawn, I'll be fine. It's _you_ I'm worried about." Kaeli said, concerned.

"Me? Don't worry about me. As long as you're okay," Shawn said softly, "That's all that matters to me." He pulled Kaeli into a tight hug. Kaeli in turn hugged him back.

"Shawn…I'm gonna miss you so much." Kaeli said, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"It's okay…" Shawn said, coming out of the hug but keeping his arms wrapped around Kaeli. "Being apart will only bring us closer together." He wiped a tear from Kaeli's cheek.

_There you see her_

_Sitting there across the way_

_She don't got a lot to say_

_But there's something about her_

_And you don't know why_

_But you're dying to try_

_You wanna kiss the girl_

Kaeli's heart began to flutter. _What is this…feeling? Could it be that it's for…Shawn?_

_Yes, you want her_

_Look at her, you know you do_

_Possible she wants you too_

_There is one way to ask her_

_It don't take a word_

_Not a single word_

_Go on and kiss the girl_

Shawn couldn't believe it, but all of a sudden he found himself leaning in towards Kaeli. _What am I doing! I can't kiss her! She'll just push me away anyways! Stop, stop!_ Shawn tired to fight it but it was no use, his heart had already made up it's mind that Shawn was going to kiss Kaeli right then and there, whether she wanted it or not.

_Sha la la la la la_

_Don't be scared_

_You got the mood prepared_

_Go on and kiss the girl_

_Sha la la la la la_

_Don't stop now_

_Don't try to hide it how_

_You want to kiss the girl_

Shawn was going to cry inside because he knew he'd make a fool of himself, but he saw that Kaeli wasn't backing away.

_Sha la la la la_

_The music play_

_Do what the music say_

_You got to kiss the girl_

Her bright blue eyes stared deep into Shawn's eyes. Kaeli just couldn't resist his eyes. They seemed to be calling to her, telling her to kiss him. Shawn leaned forward even more, the only sound being her breath, the only people there were him and her…and then…

_Go on and kiss the girl_

"Hey kid," the taxi driver yelled from the driver's seat. "You ready to go or not?"

Their bodies tensed up at the sound of the man's voice. Shawn turned around and didn't say a word. He just glared at the taxi driver, giving him a look that would make even Hades himself shake in his boots.

He faced Kaeli again, knowing that his chance for a kiss had blown away with the wind. He looked to Kaeli, and she quickly looked away, a slight pink tint growing on her cheeks. Shawn smiled. _Deep inside…she does…feel that way…about me…_

"I've got to go now…" Shawn said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Good bye." And with that, Shawn got into the taxi. He rolled down the window, smiling at Kaeli. Then he told the driver the street to drive to, and in a matter of moments, he was gone.

Kaeli continued to stand there in a daze, her mind swirling with a million thoughts, her heart swirling with a million emotions. "Bye…"

"_Being apart will only bring us closer together."_

_-_

"Can you believe it? We're here…" Kaeli asked, eyes glistening as she took in her surroundings. She had never been to New York, and it took her a while to take in all the sights and sounds.

"Not really. But what I _can _believe is that I'm here with a girl like you." Jake said, moving closer to Kaeli. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gently kissed her cheek.

And I can't believe I'm not there with a guy like Shawn…Wait, what am I saying? I mean, Jake's great but…I don't know…I still like Jake but now I have these feelings for Shawn…

"Kaeli? Kaeli are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" she said softly, snapping out of her daze.

"Is something wrong? I thought you'd be happy to win the state competition with me." Jake asked, his expression one of concern.

"I _am_ happy. Um…I'm just worried about the next dance off. You heard Rogin, he said we're not going to have anymore fun days. Now it's serious." Kaeli's eyes seemed distant as she stared at the moon and stars in the sky. "The national competition is tomorrow. I have faith in my ability to do well but….how can I expect to be the best DDR player in the United States? It seems so…unreal."

"Well, you better start believing it! The competition is just around the corner!" Jake exclaimed. He could hardly believe it himself, that he could either be the best DDR player in the nation or be going home tomorrow.

"I'm trying not to think about it too much." Kaeli said, pushing her worries away.

"Then what _are_ you thinking about?" Jake asked.

Kaeli turned to Jake, keeping her eyes fixed on him. "It's not _what_, it's _who_ I'm thinking of…" _Shawn…_Kaeli smiled, moving in for a kiss. "You…" She stared into his eyes, seeming to look deep into his soul. _What am I looking for? What am I trying to find?_

"So, what happened!" Singa exclaimed. She jumped on her bed and sat cross-legged, then leaned forward to hear what Shawn had to say. Shawn had gotten home and gave his parents the news, he decided to visit Mrs. Abson and Singa the next day.

"It's a long story." Shawn sighed. He looked around Singa's room, which was clean compared to Kaeli's. Socks weren't in the pencil holder, empty Kool-Aid packages weren't scattered on the floor, and her bed was free of crumbled Doritos. But Shawn actually liked those things about Kaeli. That's what made her who she was.

"I've got all the time in the world…" Singa said, putting her hands behind her head.

Shawn sat in her desk chair. His head hung down low. "I don't know…"

"Aw, c'mon! Dish the dirt!" Singa pulled at Shawn's arm. "I want to know what happened! It doesn't have something to do with you and Kaeli, does it?" Singa asked, her tone of voice changing.

Shawn eyes shifted back and forth. "Uh…no…" Shawn said, fiddling with a pink eraser on Singa's desk.

"I knew it!" Singa said, not believing Shawn's response. "Tell me, did you kiss her? Are you guys, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Nothing happened." Shawn said.

"Sure…" Singa said sarcastically.

"I'll tell you about everything later, okay? I just need some time before I tell you." Shawn explained, the eraser being ripped into tiny pieces thanks to him.

Singa sighed. "Okay, but don't make me wait long! Hey, and don't get my room dirty! You gotta pick up all those little pieces, _and _buy me a new eraser."

"Singa!" Mrs. Abson yelled from downstairs. "Kaeli's on the phone, she wants to talk to you!"

"Kaeli?" Shawn asked. At the mention of her name Shawn looked like a dog whose ears lifted up at the sound of 'Do you want a treat?'

Singa laughed out loud. "Slow down lover boy. I'll let you talk to her when I'm through. And maybe I'll find out about you and Kaeli through her!"

"No, don't talk to her about it!" Shawn exclaimed. He ran to Singa's bedroom door and stood in the doorway, blocking her from exiting.

Singa lifted one eyebrow and smirked. "So, something _is_ going on between you two." Shawn gave her a stern look. "Okay, okay, I won't say anything to her."

Shawn let Singa pass. She was headed for the phone when Shawn stopped her. "Wait! A-ask her how she f-feels…about m-me…" Shawn said, slightly blushing.

Singa smiled and shook her head. "You can ask her that yourself."

-

All of the DDR contestants were given a chance to call their families and friends. They didn't have the chance to talk to them since they left for the regional competition.

Kaeli leaned against the booth, payphone in hand. "Man, it's been quite a rollercoaster. It's so much fun though." Kaeli talked into the receiver. "Anything new back home? I talked to mom but she was too busy crying to talk to me."

"That's mom for ya." Singa laughed. She was back on her bed, lying on her back. Shawn was sitting on her floor. He pretended to look at her books, but Singa knew he was really listening in on her conversation with Kaeli. "Well, not that much has happened. I've been playing DDR everyday, and I'm getting a lot better. I moved onto Heavy mode, and I got a 'B' on Abyss."

"Really? That's great progress!"

"So when's your next competition?" Singa asked.

"Tonight, and I'm extremely nervous." Kaeli said.

"Well, I'm sure everyone else is just as nervous as you are, maybe even more."

"Yah, you're right. I'm not the only one who thinks they're going home."

Singa chuckled. "I'm sure you'd be glad to come home, especially right now." Shawn's head popped up from behind a book, confirming what Singa had thought earlier.

"Why?" Kaeli asked. "You got 10 pitchers of Kool-Aid in the fridge?"

"Even better. I've got Shawn!" Singa giggled.

"Huh?"

"Shawn's here. You know…_Shawn_…"

"Of course I know." Kaeli said, staying silent after that.

Singa got up and went into a sitting position on her bed, feet dangling off the edge. "Well? Don't you wanna talk to him?"

Kaeli thought for a moment. She wanted to talk to him, but her heart was already racing at the mention of his name. Kaeli was scared. I mean, really _scared_. Shawn was her best friend. She had known him practically forever. And now she has these _feelings_ for him. "Um, sure. Put him on."

"Shawn, phone's for you! It's Kaeli!" Singa said in a sing-song voice. She held the phone to him.

Shawn stared at the phone. It seemed like forever before he finally grabbed it, putting the phone up to his ear. "H-hello?" Singa walked out of the room, respecting his privacy. She was young, but she wasn't a brat (most of the time).

"Yah?" came a shaky voice on the other line.

"Um, how's New York?" Shawn asked.

"Okay." Was Kaeli's short response. She was too nervous to say anything more.

"How are you?"

"Okay."

"Uh, is something wrong? All you're saying is 'Okay'."

"Huh? No, I'm ok- I mean, I'm alright. I just feel-" Kaeli cut herself short, unable to find the words for how she was feeling.

"You just feel…what?" Shawn asked. "You feel happiness? Sadness?" Shawn could hear Kaeli's light breathing on the phone get heavier.

"Both. Happiness…because I'm talking to you…and sadness…because I'm not with you…" Kaeli said softly.

Shawn's head was swirling with happiness, his heart throbbing with emotion. _We both like each other. What do we do now? She's still going out with Jake though. Would she dump him for me? _"Kaeli?" Shawn whispered. "I…" Shawn wanted to say it so bad, but he couldn't. It was so hard for him to keep it in, yet now he found it hard to get out.

"You what?" Kaeli smiled, using the same phrasing Shawn used on her.

"I…love you." Shawn blurted out. He didn't wait for a response. Everything he had kept bottled up inside wanted to come out. "These feelings that I've had…I'm not exactly sure when they started, but I hope they never end." Shawn said, using all his courage to say it.

Kaeli's thoughts again turned to Shawn being her best friend. It was a little weird hearing him say those things to her. "I-I don't know what to say."

"Say what you feel. I wanna know."

"I don't know…"

"Lemme guess, you still have feelings for Jake." Shawn said plainly.

"Yes…"

"And you can't decide between us?" Shawn asked, doubt rushing through his veins.

"I guess so…" Kaeli agreed, though it made her sound like she was evil.

"Well, when _will_ you decide between us?" Shawn asked, getting a little irritated. "How long will I be kept waiting?"

"I-I'm not sure. I need to sort my feelings out." Kaeli said. "I know it sounds bad but I don't know what to do at the moment."

_Girl you gotta make up your mind_

_'Cause you're running out of time_

_If we could stop playing games_

_Then maybe my feelings would change_

_If that's the way you want it_

_Then that's how it's gonna be_

_'Cause I got to keep it movin'_

_You can't keep confusing me_

"I've been kept waiting for years. I can't be satisfied with a 'maybe'."

_Is it a yes?_

_Is it a no?_

_You are not ready_

_'Cause a guy like me can't be on hold_

"I'm sorry…" Kaeli apologized. "I gotta go…but…I'll call you…and I might have the answer. I know that there's a meeting for all the DDR contestants. They're gonna give us information about what time we'll be on t.v. so you can watch it. Okay?"

Shawn was silent. "…Okay…bye…"

_Waiting for you to call_

_Don't help the situation at all_

_I know that you got a guy_

_You say you want me but you don't know why_

_You say you're gonna shut him out_

_I think you're just runnin' your mouth_

_You gotta tell me what you wanna do_

_'Cause I can't be waiting for you _

"Bye…"

_click_

_I can't be satisfied with a maybe. I want a yes or a no._

_Is it a yes?_

_Is it a no?_

_You are not ready_

_'Cause a guy like me can't be on hold_

_Kaeli, for you it's always been a yes, but what about me? Yes or no?_

_-_

Well, what'd you think? This chappie was okay, just a lot of fluff and crazy emotions. Okay, I won't ramble on. XP

**Reviews (25): **

**Zanisha: **The first reviewer for Ch. 14! You've given me so many cookies, so I wanted to give something to you. -hands you brownies- I made them myself.

**Mr. Moogle: **Ew, mine's all burnt.

**Aliasfan:** T.T

**Back to Zanisha: **I'm glad you like the whole Kool-Aid thing. I don't know where any of it came from. Don't you love it when good ideas just pop into your head? Witch Hunter Robin is an anime/manga right? Maybe I should check it out.

**Pencil3: **Heh, I wish I could update every 4 days, but it just isn't possible all the time. I found out that what I should do is write a little bit in my fic everyday, even if it's just a sentence. Then, as the days go by, it accumulates and I update faster.

**Randy (Ch.8):** Everyone thinks the same way you do! Thanks for the compliment. :)

**Hajiki (Ch. 13): **Yep, I think he is too!

**Anonymous: **Gracias para el complimento. (I don't know if that's right) XD

**Suits92 (Ch.10): **Lol No, it's not too crude for him!

**Suits92: **It's a very good idea but as you already know one I didn't follow. XP Don't worry, things will work out in the end…or will it? MUAHAHA!

**Samantha: **Heh, actually I am practically falling asleep at the keyboard. I've been staring at the computer screen forever. All of those questions will be answered in time!

**Raven's Wolf: **How many times has Jake been killed? XD

**SukiLovesAnime: **I am continuing this story. Don't worry, I won't abandon it. See, me update (using improper English due to tirededness-oops, there I go again!). XP ZZzzzzz

**Trisk (Ch.13): **Thanks, I like the poem too. It goes well with the story, and I hope I did this chappie the same justice with that song.

**Trisk: **Yah, I need to work on the competition scenes. No, Shawn didn't get out because of a last minute decision. I've had this whole story planned out for months now. I have a little outline that I use for each chappie explaining a little bit about what will happen, so when I go to write the chappie I know what's gonna happen. Er…I think I repeated myself in the same sentence or something but oh well. It's almost midnight so I don't blame myself for being tired.

**KrystalGamer: **Yay, another DDR lover! Thanks for RRing my fic.

**Lyphe-**takes spit muffin and eats it- Wow, Annie, this is good. Yum! It's so juicy and tasty. XD I know, I know, Shawn lost to Jake, but you never know, things can turn around…-ninja-

**Ladybrizz (Ch.2): **You're welcome! I enjoy writing them.

**Ladybrizz (Ch. 8): **Wow, a book. What a compliment! Thank you-hands you one of my brownies- They're not burnt. -glares at Mr. Moogle-

**Ladybrizz: **I'm glad my writing touched you. -feels special:)

**Zer Touma (Ch.1,2,3,4,5,9,10, and 14): **I don't know why you're trying to promote that inthegroove thing. It's basically just a rip-off of DDR. It's okay if you don't like DDR, but if you don't, then why are you reading a **fan**fiction about it? I didn't appreciate some of the comments you made and the language you used. You have a choice not to read fics you don't like, ya know. I know that a lot of the things in this fic aren't accurate-such as scoring, etc. but this is a story. It isn't real life, meaning I write the fic the way I want to, even if it is different from what it's really like. I appreciate your help, but I don't need it. -give you burnt brownie- XP

Thanks for all the reviews (except for a certain someone's)! I hope you enjoyed this chappie.


	16. Destiny's Calling

**AN: **Lo siento! Je suis désolé! Zannen desu! No matter how I say it, I mean I'm sorry! I have been uber busy with school and activities. I know that's no excuse for not updating in 3 months! But just be thankful that I'm updating amidst all this chaos. I'm reading a fic that hasn't been updating in almost 10 months! Yes, 10 months! Now, I may take a while and not update in 3 months but I most certainly will not take 10 months! Anyways, since school is winding down, I know I'll find more time to update. Thanks for sticking around, and enjoy!

**Mr. Moogle: **It's about time you updated! My fans haven't heard from me in ages!

**Aliasfan:** What fans? searches Just kidding!

**Mr. Moogle:** aliasfan doesn't own DDR. Same old, same old.

**Chapter 16: Destiny's Calling**

_Should I stay or should I go?_

_Do I follow what I don't know?_

_My heart wants to tell me but I can't understand_

_It speaks a different language from another land_

_The land of love that I can't seem to find_

_No matter how long I've tried I can't make up my mind_

_Destiny's calling but I can't hear a word_

_They both proclaim their love but one must go unheard_

_What will happen if I stay with Jake?_

_He says he's being real but Shawn says he's a fake_

_But what if Shawn's the guy I choose?_

_In the game of love will I win or lose?_

_Only two choices but I can't decide_

_I swim to the shore yet I stray from the tide_

_I ask these questions but will the answers come?_

_If my life is mathematics who will be the one?_

Kaeli stared at the ink-filled page of the journal in front of her, then looked up at the clock. It read 2:00 a.m. Kaeli was lying flat on her stomach on a bed. The sheets smelled fresh and the comforter was warm and fluffy, yet Kaeli's mind refused to let it soothe her into the sleep she so desired. Despite trying numerous positions, including lying on her back and side, she just couldn't fall asleep. _I thought writing my feelings out would help me decide who I wanted to be with. Instead, it's only made me more confused! _

The light from the lamp flickered slightly, illuminating the room so that someone had enough light to see, or read in Kaeli's case, yet keeping it dark enough for someone to sleep._ I bet Shawn hates me now for making him wait. But what does he expect me to do? Does he want me to make a rushed decision, and in my haste pick Jake over him? Does he want me to choose the wrong guy? Of course not! _Kaeli grumbled, her head starting to hurt a little. She slowly closed her journal and put it back in the drawer next to her bed. The drawer also contained some other objects: a few coins, a bracelet, and the DDR elite National Competition program.

"Let's see…" Kaeli said quietly, "Saturday…breakfast starts at 8…" Kaeli looked up at the clock again and sighed. "Only 5 hours and 55 more minutes to go…"

-----

Shawn lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Usually he'd fall asleep right away, but this night was different. Instead of staying up late worrying about a test or a bully at school, Shawn had bigger things to think about, like love.

_2:00?_ Shawn thought to himself. _Who in the world goes to bed at 11 and is still up at 2? _Shawn closed his eyes and attempted to go to dreamland, but again his thoughts overcame him. _I wonder if Kaeli's decided yet. I mean, how hard can it be? Me or Jake? It's like asking a child what they want for dinner, ice cream or spinach! _

Shawn glanced at his arms, the bruises almost gone now. Shawn sighed, climbing out of bed, his room suddenly seeming to close in on him. Shawn felt extremely hot and sweaty even though he was only wearing his boxers. He breathed inwardly and exhaled deeply, trying to relax. _Just chill, Shawn. Everything will be okay._ Shawn took in a couple more deep breaths, seeming to calm down. He started to walk back to his bed, then stopped and clutched his hair. _Oh, but what if everything's not okay! What am I gonna do? Kaeli's the only girl that's ever made me feel this way! If she broke my heart…I…I don't know what I'd do…_

Shawn left his bedroom to get a snack, hoping it'd take his mind of things. He walked downstairs, which wasn't as hot as his room was. The cool air felt good against Shawn's skin. He headed into the kitchen, opening up the fridge and the cabinets to see what he had a taste for. _Leftover pizza? No._ _Chips? No. A chocolate shake? Yes-wait-no. _Shawn looked all over the kitchen but he still couldn't find something to eat. Suddenly he remembered the freezer. _Hmm…let's see what we have here…_Shawn scanned the freezer until his eyes rested on a particular dessert. _Ice cream? Yah, that's what I'll have!_ He took it out of the freezer, setting it on the table. _You hear that Kaeli? Ice cream's the way to go…_

-----

"Kaeli! Where've you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Jake said, running up to Kaeli. It was the morning of the national competition, and after breakfast, Kaeli had seemed to have disappeared.

Kaeli sat at the edge of the hotel pool, feet dangling in the cool, clear water. "I just needed to get away from everyone." She said softly.

"Even me?" Jake asked. He motioned to Kaeli if he could sit down and she nodded.

"No, not you too. It's just that I don't really feel that excited about the competition anymore. It's like, everything's changed now that…" Kaeli trailed off.

"Now that shorty's gone?" Jake asked, though he knew that that was what she was going to say. He took off his shoes, dipping his feet in the water as well. "Listen Kae, I know he was your friend, but he's gone now. We can go to the worldwide competition, but you can't make it there if you give up now." Jake wrapped his arms around Kaeli, causing her to smile.

"You're right. I've made it this far. I have to do this for myself _and_ for Shawn." Kaeli said happily, though her voice still had a hint of sadness in it. _I don't feel right talking to Jake like everything's fine. But if I tell him about Shawn, will he be mad at me? _Kaeli dangled her feet in the water. "Jake…we need to talk…"

"About what?" Jake asked. He slid his arm off Kaeli's shoulder, running his fingers through his hair. "You okay?"

"Do you love me?" Kaeli asked.

"What?"

"Do you love me?"

Jake seemed a little startled by her sudden question. He sat there silently for a brief moment. "I…I can't say at this moment that I love you, Kae. We are going out, and that means that I like you, _a lot_. But that doesn't mean I'll never love you. You're an amazing girl, Kaeli, and I know that with time I will fall in love with you."

Kaeli looked up at Jake, her eyes looking deep into his. _He sounds truthful, but can I trust his words? The only thing I can do is compare Jake's answers to Shawn's. _"I…feel the same way. But Jake…why do you like me, _a lot_?"

Jake chuckled. "I feel like I'm in the interrogation room! Do I really have to answer?"

"Yes. These questions are important to me." Kaeli said.

"Okay, okay. Let's see…for one, you're beautiful. You're an amazing DDR player, and you've got a kickin' personality."

"Uh, thanks." Kaeli responded.

"Hey Kaeli, we better start getting ready. The first round of the competition starts in a little bit." Jake said, starting to stand up.

"Okay, but, one more question. What makes me different from all the other beautiful, amazing DDR players with kickin' personalities?" Kaeli asked, standing up as well.

"W-what? Um, I guess….er…." Jake stumbled. "You're you. You're not like other girls. You're…different….in a good way."

Kaeli looked at Jake, "Um….okay." she said, starting to walk to the lobby.

"Where are you going, Kaeli? The rooms are this way." Jake said, pointing to the right.

"I know. But I have to make a quick phone call first."

-----

"The first round starts in an hour?" Shawn asked, gripping the phone tightly. The second he saw that it was Kaeli calling he managed to stub his toe on a table and knock a bowl over trying to get to the phone.

"Yep. I'm kinda nervous about it, but-"

"I know you'll do fine, Kaeli. Just do your best. And when you do, remember that your best is better than mine."

"Well when you say it that way…" Kaeli said, twirling the phone cord around her fingers like a little school girl. "So what have you been doing since you got home?"

"In the morning I think of you, in the afternoon I play DDR and pretend you're playing with me, and at night I dream of you." Shawn said, realizing what he just said. "Uh, I mean, nothing."

Kaeli blushed, though her rosy cheeks would go unseen by Shawn's eyes, for now at least. "Oh Shawn…"

"Oh Shawn…what?" he said softly.

Kaeli giggled slightly. "I…I know that I've been making you wait, but I just want to make the best possible decision, okay?"

"I understand. I couldn't sleep last night, and while I was awake I finally saw things from your point of view. Take all the time you need, Kaeli."

_Hey, I couldn't sleep last night either…_"Thanks." Kaeli said. "Um, Shawn?"

"What?"

"Do you love me?"

Shawn was surprised at her question but was more than happy to answer. "Kaeli, I know we're friends, and it may be seem a little weird to you, but I've been in love with you for a long time now. People may call me foolish, my parents may say I'm too young, but this feeling inside me is so strong that I know it has to be love."

Kaeli didn't quite know how to respond. "Shawn, I…that was…I mean….thanks."

"No need to say thanks to me, Kaeli, I'm just telling you how I feel."

Kaelis' heart fluttered. She touched her chest where her heart was. _Do I really…like Shawn? We're friends…it seems wrong…yet…it seems right…_

"Kaeli, you still there?" Shawn asked. Kaeli responded with a 'yes'. "Anything else you want to ask me?"

Kaeli bit her lip. "Actually, two more questions. Sorry for putting you on the spot like this Shawn, but I just need to know some things."

"By all means, go ahead."

"Why are you in love with me?"

"Kaeli, I know I'm in love with you because even just now, just by hearing your voice, my heart beats a million times faster. I know that what I feel is not infatuation because we were friends long before I felt this way. I've grown to love your smile, your eyes, your lips. I know your heart is pure and there is strength and courage in your soul. Everything about you is everything I want." Shawn poured his heart out to Kaeli, continuing, "I love you because I know that you are my soul mate. You're the only one who can make me laugh until my cheeks hurt. You're the only one who can make me cry until my tears run dry. I know I can't live without you. Cupid has struck my heart with an arrow. If you pulled it out it would lead to my death. Only the one I love could do that to me."

Kaeli was on the verge of tears by the time Shawn finished answering. "Shawn, thank you. That was beautiful!"

"It was only beautiful because I was talking about you." Shawn said, realizing his grip on the phone had loosened.

"Shawn…" Kaeli said, her heart beating faster yet seeming to stop at the same time at what she was about to say. "Shawn, I-"

"Kaeli!" Jake yelled from afar, running up to her. "This is the second time I've lost you. C'mon, if you don't get ready now, you're gonna have to dance in those sandals!"

Kaeli sighed. "I'm coming!" she said to Jake, then talked into the receiver. "Look, Shawn, I have to go. Don't forget to watch me on t.v. I'll wink to you. That'll be my hello, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Kaeli." He was about to get off the phone but stopped. "Wait! What about the third question? Aren't you gonna ask me it?"

Kaeli thought a moment. "I don't need to." Kaeli said, smiling. "Wish me luck! Bye!"

"Wait!" Shawn said again. "I have a question to ask you. Which would you rather have, ice cream or spinach?"

Kaeli laughed then raised an eyebrow. "Ice cream of course! Why?"

"No reason. I'll see you on t.v! Don't forget to wink!"

"I won't." Kaeli said, hanging up the phone. She held the phone to her chest and closed her eyes. "I won't."

-----

I was debating if I should start the first round of the competition this chappie or not, but I decided to give it its own chappie. I hope you guys liked this. It was shorter than my most recent chappies but I wanted to get it up asap for you guys. It was more emotional this time but the action will be all in the next update (which I hope to have up soon).

**Reviews (21): **

**SukiLovesAnime: **Sorry it wasn't a quick update, but I know I won't take as long to get the next one up.

**Zanisha: **Lol I had ritz crackers for a snack today. I love Spiderman 2! That is one of the best sequels. Yah, I've been bad with updates. –shame-

**Pencil3: **Thanks for the compliments on the songs and poems used. Yah, the poem I made Kaeli write in her journal is a poem I made up in class. I didn't want to use a song this chappie cause it didn't really fit.

**Poigny25 (email review): **Thank you for the nice compliments! Yah, I like this fic because it has a good mix of action and romance.

**Zer0 Touma: **I don't know why you can't read. It's obvious throughout the chappies that Kaeli does play on Heavy mode. It was Singa who had moved on to Standard, not Kaeli. Please do not review my story anymore. Any future reviews made will be ignored.

**KrystalGamer: **Well, you got more Kaeli and Shawn action in this chappie. Yep, lots o' fluff. And there weren't any songs in it. More writing.

**Raven's Wolf: **lol You're totally 'exclamation point' hyper! Oh no, now I'm doing it! Thanks for the nice comments! Exclamation point! Lol!

**Andrewtabs: **What's psmo?

**Titanium Gold: **Why thank you! I'm glad you like it.

**Samantha: **Sorry I made you wait –forever- again for me to update. Since school is winding down I promise I'll update quicker. Yah, it's like Shawn had all his feelings bottled up inside and he needed to get them out. It was like a huge relief for him, and now he's not as scared to tell Kaeli how he feels, because he knows he has a chance with her.

**Jen (Ch. 1): **Thanks.

**Axewarrior20: **Wow, thanks for the nice comments! I'm glad you like it and hope you keep reading. :)

**ZimXGir (Ch. 14): **lol I think Shawn's been glomped about a billion times (by me!).

**ZimXGir: **I know. Stupid Jake. Well, Shawn got a chance to pour more of his heart out to Kaeli. We'll see what happens next!

**SaeSawanoguchi: **lol Yah, a lot of people (including me) forget that this is a DDR fic and think it's just a story with Jake, Shawn, and Kaeli. The competition will be really exciting, and I hope I can write it well.

**Jamie (Ch. 10): **I'm glad you like my story and I'm sorry that you were disheartened at first. :(

**Jamie (Ch. 11): **You don't need to apologize if that's how you feel. But yes, I needed Shawn to have some competition, and Jake was it. Thanks.

**Jamie: **Yes, I agree. And don't worry, you DDR fanatics will get your excitement next chappie with the National Competition! Can't wait!

**Lyphe: **Hey Annie! I just have to say again how much I loved your recent chappie for Rollercoaster. I'm always so happy when you update! Yes, Kaeli is smart yet stupid at the same time. Lol

**Suits02: **-gack- Sorry for another mushy chappie! Well, next chappie will be more action so don't worry!

**Sugar Spice and Not So Nice: **Okay:)

Thanks for the reviews everyone! -huggles-


	17. The National Competition

**AN:** Wow, I can't believe that I started writing this story exactly a year ago today! It's been hard for me to write these past couple weeks. I started writing this chappie a while ago, and it just took me a while to finish it up. But now it's done! Yippee! 

**Mr. Moogle: **Happy One Year Anniversary DDR elite:throws confetti:

**Aliasfan: **I know not everyone has been R&Ring this since last year but thanks to everyone who has! Oh yah, and I don't own anything.

**Chapter 17: The National Competition**

After talking with Shawn on the phone and changing her footwear, Kaeli was finally ready for the first round of the national competition. In order to move on to the worldwide competition, Kaeli had to win four rounds. Well, there _were_ only four rounds, which meant she had to win every single one. _This is gonna be tough,_ Kaeli thought, sprinting to the main dance room, _but Shawn's rooting for me. I can't let him down._

When Kaeli entered the huge room she was hit with a blast of lights, sounds, and cameras. The regional and state competitions may not have been a big deal, but the national competition definitely was. Television stations were there ready to interview contestants and tape the competition.

"All DDR contestants must report to the front desk to obtain your dancing order and competitors." An announcer said. Kaeli walked through the crowd towards the front of the room, where contestants were lined up. After waiting briefly, Kaeli was finally up next.

"Name, please." Said a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties.

"Kaeli Abson." She responded.

The woman coughed, filing through some papers and handing them to Kaeli. "Here is a schedule of the first rounds of DDR, and the name of who you'll be dancing against. We will call your name on the intercom. Come to the center of the floor where the DDR machines are. They're hard to miss, so I doubt you'll have a hard time finding them." The woman sipped some water from her glass and continued. "The national competition will be televised as you know, but you may be asked questions by reporters. Whether you win or not, always come back here after your dance. If you win, I give you the name of your next competitor. If not, you go home."

Kaeli nodded. "I understand." She walked away from the desk a little more nervous than before. Kaeli glanced down at the papers given to her. "Edwin Lavares…" she said out loud to herself, reading the name of her first competitor.

"Yes?" came a voice from behind her.

Kaeli spun around to find her face to face (more like chest to face) with a young boy. He had spiky, short brown hair and green eyes and was wearing a red polo shirt and white shorts. "Um…"

"You called me?" he said.

"Huh?" Kaeli thought a bit. "Oh! You, you're Edwin…Edwin…" Kaeli looked back down at her paper for his last name. "Lavares?"

"Hm…" the preteen said, glancing down at his own papers. "Then you must be Kaeli Abson." Kaeli nodded. "Nice to meet you." Edwin said, holding out his hand for Kaeli to shake.

Kaeli smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too, Edwin."

"It's Eddie." He said. "Mom always calls me Edwin when I do something bad, so just call me Eddie."

"Okay, Eddie." Kaeli giggled. "Uh, do you mind me asking how old you are?"

Eddie laughed. "No, I don't mind. I get asked all the time, seeing as most of the contestants here are older. I'm 12 years old."

"Wow," Kaeli said. "You're young! But you've gotten very far in the competition, so I'm sure you'll be a fierce competitor."

"And I'm sure you'll be just as fierce." Eddie responded.

Kaeli had almost forgotten about everyone around her and even began to drown out all the shouts and music. "You, you seem very mature for your age."

"Heh, why don't you tell that to my mom. She's always trying to treat me like a kid." He said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Well, mothers know best. I mean, you may be very old for your age but that still doesn't mean you aren't young. Am I right?"

"I guess so." Eddie said, smiling. "And mom said when I come back from the competition she's going to let me eat all the ice cream I want!"

Kaeli laughed. "When I get home I'm gonna eat twenty bags of Doritos, maybe more!"

"Will Edwin Lavares and Kaeli Abson please report to the dance floor immediately." A heavy voice announced over the intercom. Both contestants looked at the dance floor, then back at each other.

"Well," Eddie said. "Are you ready to show me how fierce you can be?"

Kaeli nodded, and both of them walked to the center of the room. _It's a shame…_Kaeli thought to herself.

"You both know the rules. Just remember, the person with the highest grade at the end of the song wins." Joe Rogin explained.

Everything was so different from the state competition. There were more lights focused on Kaeli, more people watching her, more cameras catching her every move, and because of those things, more pressure.

Kaeli immediately remembered her promise. She turned around and faced the cameras, which seemed to loom over her, and gave a huge wink. _I hope Shawn saw that…_

Rogin pushed Random on the DDR machine. The songs spun round and round until suddenly it stopped and one song was highlighted. "Kaeli and Edwin-"

"Eddie!" Eddie yelled so he could be heard over all the other noises. "Call me Eddie! My mom always calls me Edwin when-"

"-will dance to Rhythm and Police! Kaeli, are you ready?" Rogin asked, followed by a nod from Kaeli. "Edwin are you ready?"

"Call me Eddie! My mom-"

"Okay! Now let's dance!" Rogin exclaimed, hitting the button to make the song start.

Kaeli glanced over at Eddie. _It's a shame...that I have to beat such a nice kid…_Kaeli looked back up at the screen. _170 bpm…I've had tougher…_

The music started, and Kaeli got that feeling that she always got when she played DDR. That rush of adrenaline kicked in right away, seeing as the song got right into the heavy dance steps. Kaeli was used to doing crossovers, and Rhythm and Police was known for having heavy chains of them. Kaeli concentrated on the arrows, trying to block out the sounds around her and the words of the song that tried to flow into her ears.

_One a piece, and doing my thing,_

_We're on the case, and we lack demands of the behavior_

_What you doing over there,_

_Come on, let's do this flip of the air_

Kaeli could tell that she was doing pretty well. The steps were pretty much in sync with the beat of the music, so there weren't any tricks she had to watch out for. She kept moving to the beat, landing a good number of perfects and greats. Kaeli always told herself to concentrate on herself and herself alone, but it was hard not to want to glance over and see how her competitor was doing.

Kaeli heard Eddie's steps as he hit the arrows, and she knew they were in sync with hers. Occasionally though she heard some missteps, so she stopped being so tense and relaxed just a little bit.

_You'll all feel this way, this groove_

_And then just don't know what to do_

_Hey, man - what you got in your hand_

_Man, that's amazing, put it away,_

_It's gonna - go bang, and blow my brains high_

_I'm gonna have so many stains - with the S.D.X, so..._

Other than not concentrating on her competitor, Kaeli's other rule was to just have fun. When she blocked Eddie out and just took it as a friendly game at the arcades, it took a lot of pressure off her back, though the cameras stayed there.

Kaeli continued to dance, feeling her legs tighten up slightly. She did some left-down and up-right combos and a few more crossovers, then finished up as the words of the song rang loudly through out the room.

_Let's leave them a little bit of change,_

_The tramps - can feel no pain,_

_Boarded up in their special cave_

_Just how far are we gonna take things_

_Cut the drugs - huh!_

Kaeli and Eddie both ended synchronized, and when they were done they had to lean back and catch their breaths.

"I see…" Eddie said between breaths, "that you came to win…"

Kaeli smiled, wiping some sweat of her brow. "I…intend to…"

"Alright!" Rogin said. "The scores are in! Edwin-"

"It's Eddie! My mom-"

"-received an A! And Kaeli received…an A as well!" Rogin announced. The crowd went wild, clapping and cheering, but silence came just as quickly, the anticipation of finding out who won was rising. "Now, it comes down to their numeric score…"

-----

"C'mon, Kaeli, you can do it!" Shawn yelled at the top of his lungs. Even though Shawn was in Kaeli's living room, he felt like he was by the DDR machine, right there with her. He wished he was there, there to give Kaeli a hug whether she won or lost.

Singa, along with Mr. and Mrs. Abson, were also watching the competition, which, of course, they were taping. "This is so exciting!" Singa exclaimed. "I hope Kaeli beat out that little kid."

"I know she did." Shawn said. "She had to…" Shawn fell back on the couch. _She remembered…to wink. _Shawn said to himself. _She remembered…me…Even though she had a million things to think about…she remembered…_

"She won!" Mrs. Abson bursted out.

"What!" Shawn said, shaking off his spaced out moment. "She did!"

"Are you looking at the same t.v., boy? She won!" Mr. Abson exclaimed, pulling his wife in for a hug.

"Alright!" Singa yelled, jumping up and down on the couch.

"Shh…shh…be quiet! They're about to talk to her!" Shawn said. Everyone huddled together in awed silence and listened to the t.v.

"_Kaeli Abson, what do you think of your first round in the competition?"_

"_Oh, it was great. I was kinda nervous, which isn't unusual for me, but I just remembered everything my friends and family have told me, and I just tried to make it as normal a dance as possible."_

"_What's the one thing you think about the most while dancing?"_

"_Well, the fact is, I don't really think. I just do. I connect the arrows on the screen to the arrows on the floor, and somehow everything just comes together. If I think about anything, my mind gets distracted, and that's where the missteps come in. It's hard to not worry about what your competitor is doing, and especially about all the cameras and staring faces around you, but I did the best I could."_

_"And apparently your best was enough! Congratulations again on winning your first round, and we look forward to seeing your second dance off later on in the day."_

"_Thank you."_

Singa continued to jump on the couch. "This is the coolest thing ever!"

"Singa, don't jump on the couch." Mr. Abson said.

"But, Kaeli just won her first dance. She only has to win three more to win. I think that deserves a jumping-on-the-couch-celebration!" Singa giggled.

Mr. Abson though a moment. "Yes, it does." He smiled, joining in on the jumping.

Mrs. Abson squealed, clasping her hands together. "Oh, that's my little girl!"

Shawn smiled to himself, folding his arms. _That's my girl…_

_-----_

Alrighty then, an end to another exciting chappie! I tried to make the dancing part more descriptive, but it's hard to write without making it boring. Seriously, who wants to read: Left, right, up/down combo, crossover, down, right, etc, etc, etc? I wouldn't! Well, so hopefully I did better on that. Again, I appreciate all my reviewers and I thank you for your comments (even though half of them are talking about killing Jake). Lol

Oh yah, and I'm not the best artist, but I'm pretty decent, so I'm gonna try to post drawings of Kaeli, Jake, and Shawn on Fanart Central. They won't be up right now, but when they are, I'll let you know in an author's note or in my profile.

**Reviews (16):**

**Blue Eyed Angel101:** I see you changed your name! I like it. Thanks, and sorry I put the cliffie at the end of that chappie, but at least this one doesn't have a cliffie, right?

**SukiLovesAnime: **Thanks for the nice review. You're a sweetie! huggles

**Zanisha:** I know, I hate that when I'm hyper and feel awake but it's really late. Ah, hope you liked the non-mushiness chappie. XP

**Titanium Gold: **Yikes, I know I never meet the deadlines I put up for myself. ; :beats myself: Yes, that is a very interesting love triange. XD

**KrystalGamer: **Yep, killing Jake would just solve everything, wouldn't it? Lol

**Samantha: **Oh, it's all good. Thanks, I liked the ending as well.

**KriKitt:** Will do! (hopefully…)

**ZimXGir: **Thanks. I thought it was a cute chappie too, but apparently it was a little too mushy for some people. .

**Suits92:** Because I'm a freakazoid. XP

**Raven's Wolf: **lol I feel like that too, like I don't even care about the competition, just Kaeli and Shawn. A lot of people wonder if I died or abandoned fics. But don't worry, I'd never abandon my fics, and if I died, my sister would post on my profile saying I did. o.O

**XXX:** Okie dokie!

**Chibi Shawn: **Thanks. I'm used to demanding people wanting me to update. XP

**John Cena's Basketball Star:** Interesting name. Of course, they'd make a better couple. But, does Kaeli realize that? You'll find out soon enough!

**Lonelyracer: **You want it, I got it.

Thanks again everyone:huggles all:


	18. Two Twists of Fate

**AN: **Wow, I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I last updated! I know I didn't update in this fic at all over the summer, but that was because I was finishing up ETR, which I updated 4 times. That took a lot out of me, so I needed a break from writing. Some inspiration caused me to write a poem, and now, finally, I have updated in DDR elite! I really wanted to update, I've just been so busy. College life is fun but a lot of work. I'm going to try to write whenever I can, at least one paragraph each day, so that I can get these chappies out sooner. Thanks for being patient. Oh yah, and even though I want to respond to your reviews (which I thank you for so much) I won't do it because it's a rule that I can't. Stupid rule… Well, I do want to say thanks to Riku-of-Darkness for your lovely reviews! Hopefully soon they will allow us to thank our wonderful reviewers by letting us respond to them in our updates. But until then, you'll just have my author's notes (which I guess I can kind of respond to you there in a way).

**Mr. Moogle: **Hiya everyone! I haven't talked to you all in a while! Guess what? Aliasfan still doesn't own DDR. Oh yah, and October 12th is aliasfan's birthday! The big 1-8!

**Aliasfan: **I entered in a DDR tournament though. I didn't do too good, since it was Perfect Attack (where you had to get the most perfects) and a lot of people AA'd the songs so they had more perfects. It was still fun though, and I got a lot of insight as to what Kaeli is really feeling when she competes. I was so scared. There were 20 guys competing and only 5 girls (including my sister and me). Yah, so it was a great experience. Oh yes, and just for the record, I started playing In the Groove. It's fun, but DDR will always be the best because it was the first! Anyways, I won't keep you from this long awaited chappie any longer.

**Chapter 18: Two Twists of Fate**

After Kaeli had beaten Eddie in the first round and had been shown on television, she quickly headed to the tables to find out who her next competitor was. Kaeli had received a ticket with her name on it when she won. She handed it to the lady at the desk.

"Kaeli Abson, eh?" said the lady. She flipped through some pages. "Hmm…Abson, Abson…." Kaeli waited patiently for the lady to give her the paper with the name of her next competitor on it. "I don't see your name here. What was it again?"

Kaeli sighed. "Abson." She waited as the woman looked through the pages again.

"Nope, not here. That's strange."

"That's Abson. A-b-s-"

"Oh, with an A!" the lady said, laughing. "My mistake."

Kaeli rolled her eyes. _Crazy…_

The lady handed Kaeli a piece of paper, seeming to be proud that _she _suddenly found out how to spell Kaeli's name. "Good luck, Kaeli Ebson."

This time Kaeli chuckled to herself. _It's funny to see how weird some people could be. Aw, but at least I didn't ask them to call me Kae, only to have them call me Kaeli,_ she thought, thinking about how Edwin wanted to be called Eddie but to no prevail.

Kaeli looked down and quickly read what was written on the paper, excited and anxious to see who her next competitor was. "Let's see…I'm up against…Jessica Tinley. Hmm, wonder how she is."

Kaeli walked through the crowds, among all of the music, noise, and excitement. She got a quick drink of water, then plopped down in one of the chairs. _Hopefully this Jessica won't be too hard,_ Kaeli though to herself, wiping her brow.

"Kae!" a voice called out from behind her.

Kaeli turned around to see Jake amongst a crowd of people by the DDR machine. She quickly ran up to him, giving him a hug. "Jake! I thought I wouldn't be able to find you here."

"I know," Jake said. "There are so many people here."

"Did you dance yet?" Kaeli asked, hoping he had made it through to the next round of the national competition.

"Yep," Jake said with a smile. "It was easy. I'm about to do round two in a minute."

"Really? Good, I can see you kick someone's butt!"

"You mean _my_ butt?" a guy asked.

Kaeli and Jake turned to see an 18-year-old guy with spiky black hair, torn jeans, and a red t-shirt. He kind of resembled Jake in a way.

"Yah, _your_ butt." Jack chuckled, sizing the guy up. "Constantine…"

The 18-year-old did the same to Jake. "Jake…" he said, folding his arms.

Kaeli put her arm in front of Jake. "C'mon you guys, you can let the DDR machine decide who's better."

"Will do." Constantine said, leaning against one of the bars of the machine.

One of the officials finally came, walking up to them with a mike in his hands. "The competition between Jake and Constantine will start now."

"Good luck," Kaeli said, giving Jake a quick hug.

Jake smiled, turning to her. "I won't need it." He got up on the dance pad with Constantine.

Rogin started up the machine and set the song choice to random. The songs spun around until finally it stopped on Burning Heat. "These two will be dancing to Burning Heat!"

Some people in the crowd cheered. _Man, that's a hard song,_ Kaeli thought to herself. _I hope Jake can do it. _

"…and Jessica Tinley. I repeat, the next dance starts in 2 minutes for Kaeli Abson and Jessica Tinley." A voice over the intercom said.

"Aw man, I have to go!" Kaeli exclaimed. "But I want to stay and see you dance!"

Jake turned around. "It's alright, I'll just meet up with you by the water fountain after we both win, okay?"

Kaeli smiled. "Okay. I'll see you then!" Kaeli rushed through the crowd to get to the other DDR machine, where two dancers just got off. Kaeli started to feel a little jittery again. All of the eyes staring at her and the cameras pointing to her gave her a lot of pressure. She sighed, closing her eyes. _Just relax. Everything will be okay._ _Jake and I will win the second round. _

"Alright, both contestants are here," said a judge. "Let's get started!"

Kaeli opened her eyes and turned to her right to see Jessica Tinley. She was a short and skinny girl, probably in her early teens. Her red hair was high up in a ponytail, and like Kaeli, she looked nervous as well.

The judge had already hit random by the time Kaeli stopped eyeing her competitor. Finally he announced, "The machine has chosen the song I Do I Do I Do!"

Kaeli smiled slightly. _That song isn't too hard. I can do it! But now I'm worried about Jake doing Burning Heat…No, I must concentrate on myself right now…I can't let anything distract me._

The judge hit the button for the song to start…and the second round was on!

-----

"C'mon Kaeli! Woo!" Singa exclaimed from her seat on the couch. The Absons and Shawn were of course still watching the competition. They had hoped that they'd get to see Kaeli dance again, so they were glad they were showing her again in the next round.

_I wonder if Jake is still in the competition…_Shawn wondered, sighing. _I just wish Kaeli would realize that I'm the one for her…_

"She's starting!" Mrs. Abson said excitedly as the cameras zoomed in on the Kaeli and Jessica dancing.

"What song is this again?" Mr. Abson asked, absorbed by the t.v.

"It's I Do I Do I Do." Singa said. She chuckled, then whispered to Shawn, "Have you ever heard this song before?"

Shawn thought for a moment. "Hmm, it doesn't sound too familiar. Why?"

Singa smiled. "I think you might want to listen to the words a little more closely…"

_All the days where we just played  
Back in school just me and you  
But I can't forget you now  
What am I supposed to do?_

Shawn blushed slightly. He stared at Kaeli. Seeing her dance was a fun thing to do. She got so into the music, moving her body slightly to the beat, her head bobbing and her hips swaying. She glided over the combos, and it didn't seem like Kaeli was missing a beat.

_  
We can be more than friends  
Do you know I'm here for you?  
'Cause you're so easy to love  
When you smile the sky turns blue_

Shawn blushed even more. _The DDR machine knows me too well._ He smiled, hoping that Kaeli was able to concentrate on the arrows as well as the song lyrics at the same time. _I hope you're thinking of me as I'm thinking of you…_

_I do I do I do do I do love you, and  
Do you do you do do you love me too?  
I do I do I do do I do love you, and  
Do you do you do do you love me too?  
I do I do I do do I do love you, and  
Do you do you do do you love me too?_

Shawn and the Absons watched as Kaeli continued throughout the song, seeming to be doing very well. Just then, Kaeli's competitor, Jessica, had her knees buckle out from under her and she grabbed her ankle. They saw Kaeli's look of shock, but she continued to dance because she didn't want to fail. Jessica's bar went down and her side was blinking red.

They continued watching the television screen as one of the judges took Jessica off the machine, and Kaeli finished up the song alone. Afterwards, Kaeli quickly walked over to where Jessica was to see if she was okay.

"Oh my goodness, what just happened?" Mr. Abson asked.

"I don't know…" Shawn said, wondering what was going on.

One of the judges stood in front of the camera. "Folks, Jessica Tinley has sprained her ankle. She'll be alright though, but she will not be able to move on in the competition. And given that she failed the song, Kaeli automatically is qualified for the third round."

The audience clapped, happy that Kaeli got through and that Jessica was going to be fine.

"Wow, I can't believe that happened!" Singa said. "I would be so embarrassed if I was that girl."

"I'm just glad that Kaeli's still in the competition." Shawn said.

The cameramen rushed to Jessica's side, so Kaeli wasn't shown on t.v. again, which got Shawn upset. _I hope I see her dance in the third round_. The screen quickly moved to another dance off after they finished talking to Jessica.

"Wow, just two more rounds, and Kaeli will be off to the worldwide competition! I'm so proud of her!" Mrs. Abson said.

Everyone else could do nothing but smile and agree.

-----

Kaeli wiped the sweat from her brow. _Wow, I can't believe that girl twisted her ankle while playing DDR. I could never imagine that happening to me…_Kaeli said to herself, walking through the crowd to the booth to see who her next competitor was. _I hope Jake won too…_Kaeli quickly got a drink of water, the cold liquid soothing her heated body. She waited in line until she got to the table.

Kaeli handed the small paper with her name on it to the same lady as last time. "It says Kaeli…_Abson_…A-b-s-o-n…" She thought she'd save her the trouble of looking through the list of last names that started with an 'E'.

"Oh I know dearie, I can read it just fine, thanks." The lady said, flipping through some papers. Kaeli rolled her eyes. The woman handed Kaeli a sheet of paper. "Here you go. Your next dance starts in 10 minutes, so you have a little more time to rest up."

"Uh, thanks." Kaeli said, shaking her head. Oh that's right, I have to meet Jake by the water fountain! Water fountains…I made that wish with Shawn. What did I wish?

_I wish...I wish for my future to be filled with happiness, preferably with the one I love, and that my life is filled with no regrets._

Kaeli ran her fingers through her hair. _Do I regret anything? Maybe I do…_

_We can be more than friends  
Do you know I'm here for you?  
'Cause you're so easy to love  
When you smile the sky turns blue  
_

The lyrics from I Do I Do I Do still rang inside her head. Kaeli sighed, unable to know what to do. _I just wish I had all the answers. I wish my life wasn't so complicated…_

Kaeli opened up the paper. _Alright, who do I dance against next?_ Her eyes scanned the sheet until they rested on the name of her competitor. Her eyes widened and she could feel hot tears forming, threatening to drop. _No…_ "No!"

The blank ink mocked her, forming the words she so desperately didn't want to see on that paper. That one name…_Jake_…

_If it wasn't complicated…it wouldn't be called life…_

Kaeli's eyes were glued on the paper, but she kept walking, finally bumping into the edge of the water fountain. Kaeli found her way back to reality, and she glanced up and noticed that Jake was standing across from her, his own paper in hand. He was just staring at her with a look she could not decipher.

Kaeli wiped her eyes, then ran to Jake. He embraced her in his arms as she cried. "Jake, what are we going to do?"

Jake looked thoughtful. "I…I don't know, Kae…"

Kaeli sniffled, her eyes finding their way to his. "What will this mean for…us?"

A small smile formed on Jake's face. "This changes nothing. Don't you see?"

Kaeli looked up, furrowing her brows. "See what?"

"Everything will be alright. I got you covered." Jake said, lightly brushing Kaeli's arm.

"Wha-what? I don't understand."

"You don't have to. Everything will be revealed after we compete." Jake said.

Kaeli was on the verge of tears again. "But we…we were going to make it to the worldwide competition…together…"

"Well, now we know that that cannot be. We'll just have to go with what life throws at us." Jake said calmly. "Do you understand?"

"But…" Kaeli cried.

"No…don't worry, sweetie." Jake said, holding Kaeli's chin up. "I love you, and no silly competition is going to change that. You mean the world to me. DDR doesn't."

Kaeli smiled, her heart beating wildly. She let Jake hold her in his arms, and they kissed. "Jake, I lo-…"

"_Um, Shawn?"_

"_What?"_

"_Do you love me?"_

_Shawn was surprised at her question but was more than happy to answer. "Kaeli, I know we're friends, and it may seem a little weird to you, but I've been in love with you for a long time now. People may call me foolish, my parents may say I'm too young, but this feeling inside me is so strong that I know it has to be love."_

"Yes?" Jake asked.

"Um…I…don't know what to say…"

Jake held onto Kaeli tighter, putting his mouth to her ear and whispering softly. "Oh Kaeli…tell me you love me too…"

Kaeli truly didn't know what to say. Her stomach felt like there were butterflies but it also felt like she was going to be sick.

"_Kaeli, I know I'm in love with you." Shawn answered._

"I love you…Jake…"


	19. The Least You Could Do

**AN: **I was trying to get this chappie up by Thanksgiving break, but it just didn't happen. I thought I'd have a lot of time since I'd have a week off but I guess not, so sorry for the delay. Finals are just around the corner so it's been a little crazy. I wanted to make this chappie longer but I wanted it to end where it was, plus I didn't want to prolong my update any longer. Anyways, thanks for all of your reviews! I wish I could just reply to everyone here but now they have that new feature, so I'll use that if I see fit to respond. On Friday I was so excited 'cause there was a free In The Groove (kinda like DDR) tournament going on, so my sis and I decided to join. She ended up getting 4th place and I got 1st place! I was so surprised, 'cause the guy I had to beat was really good, but in the end I somehow did it! The best part was that I won $50, but I have to use that money for Christmas presents. XP I love entering tournaments 'cause now I'm not just blindly writing about how Kaeli feels…now I actually know! Well, not to her extreme extent but at least some. :)

**Mr. Moogle: **aliasfan doesn't own DDR, though she is getting DDR Extreme 2 and some new dance pads soon.

**Chapter 19: The Least You Could Do**

_I'm just sitting here. And he's holding me. All of the noise, everything that's happening around me…I can't hear. I'm just in this one moment, and the only two people in this room are me…and him. Words are not enough. Nothing can explain the way I feel right now. To know that so much can be going on in your life…yet one little thing can change it all._

Kaeli felt Jake shift a little bit. She broke from her thoughts and turned her attention to Jake. He seemed to be staring at something, so she followed his gaze, her eyes leading her to the clock that hung on the wall across from them.

"It's almost time…" Kaeli whispered to Jake.

Jake looked down at Kaeli and his lips turned upward slightly. "Almost time for it to be over, right?"

Kaeli straightened up, rubbing her nose. "But I don't want it to start…"

"Kae, this has to happen. Fate decided to do this for a reason. I understand why, and soon you will too." Jake explained, stroking Kaeli's hair.

Kaeli sighed, deciding not to ponder on the matter of fate and destiny for too long. "I wonder what song we'll dance to."

"Probably something hard. Though I'm sure nothing's too hard for you, Kaeli." Jake smiled. "I hope it's one of my favorite songs, like End of the Century or Afronova. I can get A's on those most of the time."

Kaeli furrowed her brows, turning to Jake. "Why are you so calm? Why doesn't this bother you!" she said with slight irritation in her voice. _Here I am freaking out and he's all cool about it._

Jake scratched his arm and sunk deeper into the couch. "Don't get upset. I just know what I'm doing, that's all."

"Oh, and I don't?" Kaeli asked.

"C'mon Kae, that's not what I mean. All I'm saying is that I have everything worked out, so in the end, everyone will be happy."

"But…how can we both be happy if one of us is leaving the competition?" Kaeli asked, confused. _I hope he knows what he's doing…_

Jake laughed a little. "Well, you'll find out soon enough." He gave Kaeli a hug and stood her up. "It's time."

Kaeli glanced at the clock again. "So it is…"

-----

"Kaeli should be competing soon, right?" Singa asked anxiously.

"Yah, so we should be heading back." Shawn said. He and Singa had been getting food from the kitchen. They had been watching the competition unfold all day and had forgotten about eating amidst the excitement.

Singa finished up making her sandwich. "You know, I can see it in your eyes."

Shawn put the bag of chips away, closing the cabinet. "See what?"

"That you're afraid Kaeli doesn't like you. But I know she does. Deep down she does."

Shawn sighed, leaning up against the counter. "But is she willing to dive deep enough to find it?"

Singa smiled. "Aw, c'mon, be positive!" she said as she and Shawn walked into the t.v. room.

Shawn was about to respond but something on the t.v. screen stopped him. His eyes widened and he nearly dropped his plate of food. "Be positive? How can I…now that…"

Singa looked at the t.v. and saw Kaeli and some guy standing next to her. "Is that…him?"

Shawn nodded. "It's him." Shawn sat down as close to the t.v. as possible, watching the events before him. _I can't believe it…_

Shawn watched as the couple walked hand in hand up to the DDR machine that was waiting for them. Kaeli seemed really nervous, more so now than she was before. People had started to gather around the machine, and the cameramen were already there, ready to catch the action.

Shawn's heart was beating faster. _If I'm this nervous, I can only imagine how Kaeli's feeling right now_. "When I was up against Jake, I couldn't beat him. Kaeli's gonna have to kick his butt for the both of us."

-----

Joe Rogin came up to the machine, mike in hand. "Alright, we have both contestants here, Jake and Kaeli. They will be competing in the third round of the DDR competition. Whoever fails or gets the lowest score will be going home tonight. "Are you two ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Jake said.

Kaeli nervously nodded. "Yes…I'm ready."

"Alright then, let's get started!" The crowd cheered as Rogin pressed the button, choosing a random song. "Ooh, this one's a little tricky…End of the Century!"

Kaeli groaned. She hated a lot of the steps in End of the Century. It was kind of tough for her, but she had danced to it before. _I wonder how Jake feels about the song…_She glanced over at Jake and noticed him smiling at the screen. Kaeli raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. _I can't be worrying about Jake right now. Wait a minute, no wonder Jake seems so happy… wasn't this one of the songs he said he wanted us to dance to? He said he can get an A on End of the Century! I don't think I can do that!_

Rogin pressed the button for the song to start. Kaeli wiped her sweaty palms and slowly started to slightly bounce to the beat of the song. _There's no way I can beat Jake. He's really good at this song…But I'll just have to try my best not to look like a fool next to him. _The arrows soon flooded the screen, and the dance was on!

_End of the century Misery, can it be_

_Choose who's the boss Suffer a great loss_

_Man woman child No longer exist_

_Only the good ones will be missed_

_Life love cherish it all_

_Who will be left to conquer?_

End of the Century started off fairly simple, but soon it became a swirl of long combos and choppy steps. Kaeli concentrated on the arrows, blocking out the words that the crowd could easily hear. Kaeli was so scared to look over at Jake's side to see how he was doing. She didn't want to get distracted. _He's probably hitting all perfects anyway._

_The end is coming. Don't start running_

_There's nowhere to run. Don't grab a gun_

_All over the land here this roar_

_No one knows what's in store_

_Look for star, he's on his way_

_No one knows what's in store_

_Love yourself and all around_

_In a blink of an eye_

_You won't hear a sound_

_Your heart is pounding at raided speed_

_Man will always feel the need for greed_

Kaeli kept moving to the song, she could tell she was doing pretty well. Usually Kaeli could hear her opponent's steps and could tell if they were messing up or not, but somehow, subconsciously, her mind wouldn't let her hear Jake. Suddenly, she heard the crowd murmuring. _What is going on? I didn't mess up…so maybe…_Kaeli then started to hear Jake…first his breathing. He was breathing heavily. Then she heard his steps. They weren't in sync with hers all the time. _What is happening?_

_The sky is falling_

_Eyes are balling_

_You had your chance_

_To make your stance_

_Love is a must life don't lust_

_No time to fuss _

_People start to cuss_

_Cry out who's going to care_

_Have no doubt have no fear_

_Believe in me I'll show you the way_

_The Feeling - is Amazing_

_(Ohh boy!) I want you (Come on and Get me!)_

Kaeli could tell it was almost over, but she still danced her hardest on the song. Suddenly she saw the screen flashing red...on Jake's side of the screen! She quickly glanced at his bar and noticed it was low. _How can he be almost failing?_ Kaeli heard the crowd murmuring again, this time a little louder.

_Some just say the world is changing_

_Many people will agree_

_Many changes we are seeing_

_I just say…_

_It's the end... It's the end_

_It's the end of the century_

As Kaeli finished up the song, she heard Jake stumbling again. _What? Why is he doing this! _As the last arrow finally left the screen, Kaeli leaned back on the bar. She wiped her forehead and breathed a deep breath in and out. Her legs were aching and her eyes began to water, knowing that someone was leaving the competition today, and she was afraid of who it was.

Kaeli looked at Jake. He was indifferent to the whole situation, just standing there. She turned to Rogin as he began to speak.

"Well, erm, that was a very interesting dance, wasn't it? Let's find out the scores of these two competitors!" Rogin exclaimed. The scores showed up on the screen. Kaeli, you got a B, and Jake…got a C! This means that Kaeli Abson moves on to the fourth and final round of the National Competition! Congratulations!" The crowd clapped and cheered wildly for Kaeli.

Kaeli smiled weakly, trying to take in everything that just happened. Tears began to fill her eyes, both of happiness for herself and sadness for Jake. She turned back to Jake but when she did, he wasn't there. She looked around anxiously through the crowd but couldn't find him. She was about to search for him when people started crowding around her, asking questions and such. Kaeli was stuck there for about five minutes until she was finally free. She quickly went to the register tables to find out her next opponent.

Kaeli glanced down at the piece of paper handed to her. "India Misabu…" she read out loud. _Never heard of her…_She looked at the time of the final round. _9:00…that means they're giving me an hour to rest up…_

Kaeli quickly stuffed the paper in her pocket. _Good, that gives me enough time to find Jake. I don't know why I don't care that I won…all I care about is if Jake's okay…and…why he did it._

Kaeli searched throughout the crowds but to no avail. _Knowing Jake, he's probably away from the competition room…_She quickly walked around the hotel, and made her way outside. She circled the pool and went out on the patio. _Not there either…_Kaeli thought hard. _Maybe he's packing in his room…_Kaeli ran to the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. She got off and turned the knob to open the door. It was locked. She looked underneath the door and saw that the lights were off. _I guess he's not here either…_Kaeli started to walk away, then stopped. _Well, maybe he is in there._ She took out her key and quickly unlocked the door.

She stepped into the dark room, closing the door. "Jake?" she called out. "Jake, are you in here?" She reached for the light switch so she could see.

"Don't turn it on." A voice said.

Kaeli lowered her hand and squinted, her eyes slowly becoming adjusted to the light. She looked to where the voice came from and noticed Jake sitting on his bed, his back to her. She walked a little closer, to the opposite side of the bed and stood there. "Jake?" Kaeli said softly, trying to hold back her tears. "You didn't have to do that for me…"

"Kaeli, I had to. It was the only way." Jake said quietly.

"No, it wasn't. We could have competed fair and square, and you would have won for sure."

Jake turned his head slightly. "Kaeli, you should be happy. I did this for _you_."

Kaeli walked around the bed to Jake, sitting down next to him. "Then why aren't you happy? You said we'd both be happy. But here we are, miserable."

"Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we?" Jake said, turning to Kaeli. He pulled her to him and kissed her gently.

A small smile appeared on Kaeli's face. "When do you have to leave?" Kaeli asked, her face becoming sad again.

Jake leaned in closer to Kaeli, his lips nearly touching hers. "Never…" he whispered, giving Kaeli another kiss, this time more long and passionate than the one before.

"Kaeli, I love you. I just want to make you happy…"

Kaeli smiled again, giving Jake another kiss. She was about to part when Jake held her in closer, so she continued to kiss him. Jake leaned in more, slowly laying her down on the bed. Then he began to caress her body gently.

"Jake," Kaeli said softly. "What're you…"

"Shh…" Jake said, kissing her more. His hands slowly moved to the bottom of Kaeli's shirt, and he began to take it off. Kaeli blushed, pushing his hands away and straightening up a bit. "What're you doing, Jake?"

"I'm just trying to make us happy, Kae. Don't you want to be happy?" Jake asked.

"Well, yes, but…not like this…" Kaeli said.

"C'mon, it's okay." Jake said, grabbing Kaeli's waist.

"No!" Kaeli said, moving away from him a little bit. "You know I'm not that kind of girl."

"Yes you are. You know you want me." Jake said, moving closer to Kaeli again.

Kaeli furrowed her brows. "What! What're you thinking? We can't do this!"

"Yes, we can." Jake said, he leaned onto Kaeli, kissing her neck.

"Ugh, stop it!" Kaeli exclaimed. She pushed Jake away and before she knew it she had slapped him across the face. Kaeli sat there, stunned at what she had just done.

Jake seemed surprised too. "What'd you do that for!" he said angrily.

"I told you, I don't want to do this!" Kaeli said, a little nervous.

"Why do you think I threw the match!"

"What?" Kaeli asked, her eyes widening in shock and confusion.

"There I go, losing on purpose for you, and this is how you repay me?" Jake said harshly.

Tears began to form in Kaeli's eyes. "How dare you…"

"Kaeli, I _let_ you win. Doing what I want now is the least you could do."

Kaeli began to cry more. "How can you say that!" She buried her face in her hands.

"C'mon Kae, just do it. Look at what I've done for you." Jake said, putting his arm on Kaeli's shoulder. She pushed it away.

"You didn't do it for me, Jake." She said, standing up. "You did it for yourself."

"No, that's not it. I love you." Jake said, moving closer to Kaeli.

"No! I hate you, Jake!" Kaeli yelled, running out of the room, her vision clouded by her tears.

_Kaeli truly didn't know what to say. Her stomach felt like there were butterflies but it also felt like she was going to be sick._

"_I love you…Jake…"_

"I hate you!"


	20. Burning Heat

**AN: **Well, it hasn't been that long, has it? Since Christmas break is here, and since I don't have any classes to worry about, of course I was able to type in DDR elite!

**Mr. Moogle: **aliasfan still doesn't own DDR. She does own the characters though as always, and she's having fun playing DDR Extreme 2 on her new dance pads for PS2 that she got for Christmas.

**Aliasfan:** At least I own that. :ninja:

**Chapter 20: Burning Heat**

The tears streamed down her face, her lips tasting the salty liquid as it fell. Her hair was messy, her face was red, and her nose was runny. But those things didn't matter to her at that moment. The only thing that did was the fact that she had been duped. She was played for a fool and she hadn't even known it. Everything that she believed was a lie. The DDR tournament was all she had now, and she couldn't even lie back on that. She had moved on because of a fluke. It wasn't her talents that made her win, it was someone else's alternative motives.

Kaeli ran back down to the main room where the tournament was being held. She lowered her head as low as she could so no one could see her crying and slowly walked through the crowd. People were talking and laughing all around her, but she had never felt so alone. _No one cares…_Kaeli thought to herself, wiping away some more tears. _No one knows what it's like to feel this way…_

Kaeli sniffled and headed into the bathroom. She finally lifted her head and looked in the mirror to find herself in a total wreck. She quickly turned on the cold water and let the stark cold sting her face. It helped a little to soothe her hot tears, but the cold water could not reach her burning heart. _Look at me…I look horrible…_Kaeli glanced at herself again. _You know, even if I looked like this…Shawn would still say I was…beautiful…_Kaeli splashed some more water on her face. _I wonder if he's still watching the competition…_

Kaeli jumped suddenly as she felt a tap on her shoulders. She turned around quickly to see a girl who looked younger than herself standing there. "Oh my gosh, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Kaeli said, putting her hand to her chest and breathing outward.

"Sorry to bother you," the black-haired girl replied, "But are you Kaeli Abson?"

"Uh, yah. Why?" Kaeli asked.

"Oh, it's just that there's a boy that was looking for you. He asked me to check if you were in the bathroom for him." The girl explained.

Kaeli's eyes lit up. "A boy? Looking for me?" _Maybe it's Shawn! But…it could be Jake…_ "What does this boy look like?"

"Mmm…" the girl said, squinting her eyes. "I don't really remember…"

Kaeli's eyebrow twitched slightly. "You…you don't remember?"

"No…sorry. All he said was that he was looking for you."

Kaeli sighed. _Well, I'm going to have to come out here sooner or later, so I might as well come out now and hope it's Shawn that's out there._ "Alright, thanks. Tell him I'll be out in a little bit."

"Okay, I'll tell him." The girl said, giving a small smile. She turned on her heel and was about to walk out the door when she stopped. She turned around and cocked her head, biting her lip as if she was thinking really hard. "Oh yah, he had black spiky hair. And a tongue ring. I don't know how I could've forgotten that." She said, scratching her head.

Kaeli's eyes widened. "Uh, on second thought, tell him that no one was in here. Then when he leaves come in here and tell me." The girl gave Kaeli a strange look. Kaeli walked a little closer to the girl, sounding desperate. "Please. I don't…I can't…"

The girl shook her head. "It's okay. I'll do it."

Kaeli exhaled loudly. "Thanks." She said with a look of appreciation on her face. She watched as the little girl left the bathroom. Kaeli went back to look in the mirror. She still looked like a total wreck, but at least she had stopped crying. She only waited a little while before the girl came back into the bathroom.

"He left already?" Kaeli asked.

The girl bit her lip again. "Um…no…He said that if no one was in here then it wouldn't have taken me so long. Uh…he wants you to…come out and…"

Kaeli's knees nearly buckled. "No!" she yelled. Kaeli covered her mouth, talking softer, her voice shaky. "Sorry, I didn't…mean to yell. It's just that…I can't go out there…"

The girl looked like she felt really sorry for Kaeli. "Um…you said you're Kaeli, right?" Kaeli nodded.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but they just called your name on the intercom. I think it's time for you to dance."

Kaeli covered her forehead with her hand. "Oh no…"

"Yah, so I think you kinda have to go out there…"

The tears started to form again in Kaeli's eyes, and she could feel her body burning. "I can't do this…I never want to see that jerk again…"

The black-haired girl walked up to Kaeli and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. My mom told me what to do in times like these. I'll be right back."

Before Kaeli could say anything, the girl left the bathroom. Seconds later, she returned with a huge smile on her face. "It's okay. You can come out now."

"Um, thanks." Kaeli said, a little confused. She began to walk out with the girl, who started to laugh. "What?" Kaeli asked.

"If only you had been there to see…" the girl laughed.

"See what?"

The girl smiled. "I kicked him where the sun don't shine."

Kaeli burst out laughing. "You did _that_!"

"Yep. My legs are strong. He took a good beating. Everyone who saw it starting laughing at him, and he ran out holding his…um, well…you know." Kaeli laughed harder, which made the girl smile even more. "And trust me, Kaeli, he's gonna cry a lot more than he made you."

Kaeli smiled, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. I don't think I would've been brave enough to do that."

"Well, you're going to have to be a lot braver for other things in your life. Sometimes you just gotta suck it up and do what you gotta do, even if that means helping out a competitor." The girl said as she and Kaeli walked out of the bathroom and into the main room.

Kaeli's mouth dropped and she stopped, turning to the girl. "You're…"

"India!" a guy called out from a distance. "Where've you been? You gotta compete now!"

India waved to the guy. "I'm coming!" she turned to Kaeli. "Er, I mean, we're coming."

Kaeli just stood there in shock. "Why did you do that for me? You…you didn't have to…"

"Well, when that guy you know asked me to go in the bathroom to see if you were there. I recognized your name…and well, I just went from there. I never leave a girl in the dust." She said, winking.

"Again, will Kaeli Abson and India Misabu please come to the main dance floor for the 4th round of the competition." the intercom sounded.

"That's us! Let's go!" India said, running to the direction of the DDR machines.

Kaeli quickly followed afterwards. She heard people cheering and shouting. _Wow, is this really such a big deal? I mean, I know it's the fourth round and everything, but still…_Kaeli was getting closer and could finally hear what they were shouting.

"Go Indy! Indy 500! Indy!" the crowd shouted.

Kaeli furrowed her brows. _Why are people cheering for India and not me? What makes her so special?_

"Go Indy 500!" more people called out.

_And why do they keep calling her Indy? Must be a nickname…just like Kae is for me. But 500?_

Joe Rogin stepped up to the DDR machine. "Alright, the two girls are here now and we can start their final round of the National competition. Whoever wins this will be moving on to the last stage, the Worldwide DDR competition, and could potentially be crowned one of the DDR elite!"

The crowd cheered at Rogin's statements. Just then the guy who had called India's name before came up and took the microphone from Rogin. "India doesn't know I'm doing this, but Rogin said it was okay." The guy said, speaking to the cameramen and all the people watching on t.v. "India has been my best friend since forever. Even though she's young, she is a strong and fierce competitor! We're all here rooting for her because today she'll be making DDR history!"

Kaeli looked around as the crowd cheered again. She felt a little hurt that no one was around to cheer her on. _Okay, so she's young, so were the million other people I beat. No big deal._

"If our little Indy wins this dance-off, she will win her 500th straight game! And just like the car race, she can officially be called Indy 500!" the guy exclaimed, bringing even more cheers from the people around them. "Let's hear it for Indy 500!"

Kaeli looked at India to see her smiling brightly. _Whoa, guess this is a big deal…Ugh, I'm such a crybaby. _Kaeli thought as she felt the tears starting to form again. _Just because she's won so many times doesn't mean that…argh…why am I so upset! She's so perfect. She has more guts to stand up to Jake than I do. Everyone's here for her, and well, I have…no one…_

The guy handed the microphone back to Rogin. "Alright! Now that that's done, we can get on with the competition!"

"Wait a minute!" a male voice called from the crowd. "If someone can talk about India, I'd like to talk about Kaeli!"

Kaeli's head throbbed. _Oh no, now Jake's going to bash me. He's going to tell the whole world how horrible I am…_Kaeli bowed her head down low to avoid the glances of the crowd. She heard the crowd murmuring slightly.

"Alright, come on up!" Rogin said. He handed the microphone off.

The guy cleared his throat. "Um…I don't have some fancy speech planned like the other guy. But that's okay…'cause even if I was the only one standing here, cheering for Kaeli, I'd still be louder than the tens of people here for India."

Kaeli sniffled, then furrowed her eyebrows. _Wait a minute…that's not Jake..._ Kaeli looked up and turned around. _It's…_

"I've known Kaeli for a long time now. We're best friends, and well, I know how determined she is. She's an awesome DDR player…and even though she hasn't had 499 straight wins, I think it'd be a heck of a lot more accomplishment for her to actually beat the person who does." Shawn said, smiling.

"Go Kaeli!"

"Kaeli's gonna win!"

Kaeli looked out into the crowd. _People are actually cheering for me! Mom…Dad…Singa…_Kaeli started to cry again, but this time from happiness. It was hard for her to look at Shawn, but when she did, she found his soothing eyes looking back into hers. She smiled weakly, and mouthed 'Thank you'. Shawn smiled and nodded, then went back into the crowd.

_He…called us…best friends…but…I don't want to be…just…best friends…_Kaeli said to herself. _He doesn't know yet. He doesn't know that I've found what was deep inside…_She could feel her heart beating faster and faster. _Why…? How could I have been so stupid that I…couldn't see him…even though he was right in front of me? This whole time…_

"Alright, _now_ we can begin the competition!" Rogin exclaimed, causing the crowd to cheer. He pushed roulette on the DDR machine. "Remember, the person with the better grade will move on to the Worldwide competition in Japan!" The songs went around until finally it stopped. "Oh, it's Burning Heat! It'll definitely be challenging to get perfects on this song, but let's see these girls prove me wrong!"

Kaeli could feel her family's eyes burning into her. She could feel her heart burning with a new feeling. Her head burned with the thoughts of who she was up against. _What an appropriate song…_Kaeli swallowed hard. _This is it…Oh my gosh, this is really it…_

Rogin pushed the button, and the song was about to start!

_So much pressure…Everyone's watching…I can't do this…I just want this to be over…_Kaeli tried to collect her thoughts and concentrate on the screen, nearly missing the song's start. She knew that the song had a very fast beat and tricky steps, so she tried her best to hit them as perfectly as possible. Usually Kaeli only concentrated on the dance steps and occasionally would break her concentration to see how her opponent was doing. But this time, it seemed like she couldn't stop concentrating on other things. Of course, there was plenty on her mind.

_I can't believe Jake would do that to me…Shawn was right all along, and I just didn't listen to him. I should have listened to him with everything. He called us…best friends…I wonder if he still wants to be more…_

Kaeli shook her head and came back from her thoughts as she noticed some Boo's on her side of the screen. _C'mon Kae, concentrate. This is the final round! You could be going to Japan and becoming DDR elite._ Kaeli went back to focusing as hard as she could. She wasn't really familiar with Burning Heat. It had Kaeli doing some combos, but mainly those off-beat steps. _Ugh, now I know why I never play this song…_Kaeli thought,annoyed with the music.

Kaeli could see her bar filling back up and she smiled. _Alright, I can't make this India girl have her 500th straight win. Though I would feel bad since she did do those things for me. Stupid Jake…I wonder if he's still here…watching me…_

The song was ending, and Kaeli finished pretty strong. She realized that she hadn't even checked to see how India was doing. _Well, let's hope she messed up more than I did…_

"Alright! The song has ended and the grades are in!" Rogin announced. The crowd was silent with anticipation. "India has a…B…and Kaeli has a…..C! India Mi-I mean Indy 500 has done it! She will be moving on to the Worldwide competition! Let's hear it for both our competitors!" The crowd applauded and India's 'cheering squad' broke out chanting 'Indy 500'. Kaeli congratulated India and gave her one last goodbye before the cameras and her friends swept her away.

Kaeli breathed out heavily. She was sweaty and tired, and she felt like she had been crying and dancing all day. Well, she almost had. _I can't face them…they'll think I'm a loser…because that's what I am…_

When Kaeli was ready she turned around to face the people that were waiting for her, giving them a sad face.

"Oh honey!" Kaeli's mom said, wrapping her arms around her. "You did such a great job!"

Kaeli's dad also came up and gave Kaeli a hug. "Look how far you got! We're so proud of you!"

_Why are they so happy? I couldn't even concentrate on the song…_

"What's wrong dear?" Mrs. Abson asked, rubbing Kaeli's arm.

"What's wrong? I just lost the competition. No national DDR elite title for me." Kaeli said glumly.

"But you still made it farther than I would've done." Singa said, breaking through the crowd. "I know you might be upset, but look at how much you've accomplished!"

Kaeli smiled weakly. "Yah, I know…but still…I came here to win…"

"Well, there's always next year, right?" Singa said, grinning. "I know I'm gonna be practicing everyday so that when the time comes I'll be ready."

"Oh, really?" Kaeli smirked. "I'd like to see how far you get. As for next year, I might try again. This competition really took a lot out of me. It's hard, but it's still a lot of fun."

"Fun?" a voice broke out from behind Kaeli. She turned around to see Shawn standing there, which made Kaeli blush. "You call weak knees, cramped feet, tired legs, wheezing lungs, and sweaty armpits fun?" Shawn asked, smiling.

Kaeli laughed, leaning against the DDR machine bar. "You know it."

"It took us a while before we realized that we could come here and watch you dance live rather than on t.v. Hope you didn't mind." Mr. Abson explained.

"No, it's better to have you guys here. If you weren't, I probably would've done worse on the song." Kaeli said. "I don't think I could've taken another minute of 'Indy's 500''s cheering squad. Though the girl herself was nice."

"Well, we just want you to know that we're very proud of you. As a treat, kind of like a tradition now, we're going to Rainforest Café to eat their ribs. How about you come along?" Kaeli's mom asked.

Kaeli chuckled. "Of course. But I have to get my things from my room."

"Oh, we can get that for you. We'll just meet you in the front lobby in a little bit, okay?" Mr. Abson replied.

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Kaeli said, handing her parents her room key and number, and they left for her room, with Singa following not far behind.

That left Kaeli and Shawn alone together, which made Kaeli get butterflies in her stomach. She looked down at her feet.

"Kaeli, can you believe it? You actually beat Jake! You said you'd beat him for me, and well, you did! And well, after that, we knew we had to come down here." Shawn said excitedly. He noticed Kaeli didn't seem too excited. "What's wrong?"

Kaeli sighed. "Let's go talk…out in the lobby." Shawn nodded and they walked silently across the main room and the lounge until they got there.

Shawn gave a concerned look to Kaeli. "Kaeli, if this is about losing the compe-"

"It's not about that. Not really at least. I mean, I really should have lost against Jake."

"What're you talking about? We saw you beat him fair and square."

"No," Kaeli replied, still looking down at the ground. "He lost on purpose. He wanted to…he tried to…" Kaeli's voice became shaky.

Shawn held on to Kaeli. "What did he try to do! Is he still here! I swear, I'll kill him if I find him!"

"I'm sure he's long gone by now. India made sure of that. He never really cared about me at all…but you…" Kaeli said, meeting Shawn's eyes, "You always cared for me…"

"Kaeli," Shawn said softly.

Kaeli turned away slightly. "But I can't do this. I was a jerk to you…"

Shawn grabbed hold of Kaeli's hand. "No, you weren't. You were just taking a different path. And once you found out you were lost, you turned around and went the other way."

Kaeli thought back to everything that had happened. Shawn had always been there for her. He was never rude, mean, or conceited. He was a fun, sweet, and loving guy, she just hadn't seen it at first.

"Shawn, you're too nice to me." Kaeli said, blushing.

The fear Shawn used to feel when he was with Kaeli was completely gone. The DDR competition had changed him for the better. He was stronger and braver. "Kaeli…remember when I wanted to give you that note in class that one time? I didn't give it to you because it was a love poem. Well, a rather corny one, but a love poem nonetheless. And remember when we were at the carnival during the competition? That day on the Ferris Wheel, I was going to ask you out, but I was too late."

"I…"

"And remember during the competition we made a wish at the fountain? Well, my wish was to be with you."

"Shawn…"

"And remember right before I left the competition? I wanted to kiss you so bad that night. But…I was too afraid…I didn't know how you felt."

Kaeli was about to talk but Shawn held his fingers up to her lips. "And remember when we talked on the phone when I was back home? I asked you to make a choice. I asked you…yes or no? Well…are you ready to give me an answer?"

Kaeli's heart fluttered. _All the clues, all the signs, how could I have been so cold? Now this heat burns within me…_"Shawn, when you asked me back then, I really could not decide. But now…now, everything is so clear to me. I'm sorry my answer took so long, but it's yes." Kaeli said softly.

"Yes?" Shawn asked, moving closer to Kaeli.

Kaeli moved closer too. "Yes…"

Shawn smiled, wrapping his arms around Kaeli. "So…how about that kiss?"

Kaeli smiled back, finally at peace with herself. "What about it?" She wrapped her arms around Shawn's neck as he brought his lips closer to hers. No matter how many times she thought it'd be strange, their kiss couldn't have felt more right. Kaeli closed her eyes and took in her first real kiss. Shawn's lips were soft against her own, and Kaeli didn't want to leave that moment.

"Aw, how sweet!" Mrs. Abson exclaimed.

Kaeli and Shawn opened their eyes to see Kaeli's family standing there in the lobby.

"You two are so cute together!" Mr. Abson said, smiling.

Singa chuckled. "Well, if Kaeli can lose the competition and come out with a prize like that, I definitely have to enter next year!"

Kaeli laughed, her cheeks turning red. "Oh stop it! You guys are embarrassing me!"

"Alright, alright, we're going." Mrs. Abson said, smiling.

Shawn shook his head, laughing. "They better not do that every time we kiss."

Kaeli smiled, turning to Shawn. _I'm finally on the right path. I know where I belong._ "Shawn, remember when you told me you loved me?

"Yes…" Shawn said, wrapping his arms around Kaeli.

Kaeli smiled, warm in Shawn's embrace. "I never got to tell you that…I love you too…"

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The End

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Wah! I can't believe it's the end! This has been a long journey, and I thank everyone who supported me along the way. Reviewers always help the writer get through those tough times and road blocks. DDR elite was hard to write at times, but I pulled through. I know I didn't give you guys warning that it was going to end at the beginning of this chappie in my author's note, 'cause that would've spoiled everything! I won't be writing a sequel to DDR elite with Singa in the competition, if that's what you were thinking. But in case you are wondering, of course Kaeli and Shawn will be together forever and still be great DDR players (same old, same old-lol). Now that I'm in college it's harder to find time to write, but I will update one-shots and maybe some other things here and there. So anyways, I thank you again for reading my fanfic and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.


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